Author's Note: Well I have been reading a few romance novels lately, trying to find something light to read in between classes and because they're something I enjoy and quite wish to pursue for a living, when I picked up one that just sent the plot bunnies flying. I have to say that this story is rather inspired by it as it gave me the idea, though I think the idea has kind of been done before in different things. This will be an AU Itachi x Hinata multichaptered fic. That means they might be a bit OOC, which just happens when you change them from their world to another.

Some things about this fic and the first chapter: 1)This is my first time of using some Japanse honorifics and words in a story. Please excuse me if I have them wrong and such and please don't be afraid to give me the correct words.

2) She does use Naruto's last name, but they're not married or even connected in this story as is hopefully explained well enough. So please don't be surprised.

3) Feedback is always welcome, just please no flames, use constructive criticism meaning both good and bad elements of the story etc., which will help me be a better writer rather than just flaming which will discourage. Just something I thought I would mention. Enjoy.

EDIT 2011: I am taking out the Japanese words that appear in the first several chapters. I am leaving the honorifics as I like them. Get over it. Also correcting any spelling/grammar I didn't catch a million years ago when I wrote this. Thank you so much for all the support with this fic over the years though. I still smile every time someone comments or adds to their favorites.

Translations:

-sama is used for a person of respect

-san is like mr., ms, etc.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters. I do not own the title of the story, it belongs to the Beatles. I also don't own the full idea of the plot either.

If I Fell

Chapter 1

How did I allow myself into this? Hinata thought as she scrubbed the dark hardwood flooring. It was the undeniably the most boring and disgusting work that anyone could take on. Out of all the duties she was expected to perform, this was by far her least favorite and most put off job.

But he wishes it so. She stopped scrubbing for only a moment, noticing her reflection in the perfection below her. Her black locks were pulled up into a sorry excuse for a bun as her bangs, sweaty from the manual labor, stuck to her pale forehead.

The front door slammed before she could finish, signaling that her boss had finally arrived home from abroad. Struggling from the floor, using her hands and knees, listening to the muscles and bones protest, she took off the brilliant yellow gloves, leaving them on the side of the bucket as she headed for his office.

It was all terribly routine now to her and after two years of working for him as his live-in housekeeper and kind of secretary, it should have been. She wrung her hands, hoping she didn't smell of orange and disinfectant too much, as she headed for his private office at the end of the rather grim hallway.

The work she was doing was mostly like that of a servant, just with a different name and a paycheck, she added in her head. She tried to straighten out the ordinary and what could be classified as "ugly" clothing she wore, a button down work shirt with loose –fitting jeans, before she knocked on the heavy wooden oak doors.

"Come in," came his quiet and quick response as she turned the gold handle and let herself in. He was sprawled out in his favorite high-backed burgundy chair, his black tie already loose from the white shirt, tailored to his lean physique, his immaculate black blazer on the couch nearby.

He looked worn out, his usually calculating black eyes squeezed tight with tension and the hassle of traveling. From his body language, the way he was lounging, even the way he was breathing, she could tell that things had not gone well for Itachi.

"Can I get you something Itachi-sama?" she asked meekly. When she had first begun working for him, fresh from the agency and just in college, she had an almost crippling stutter and shy nature that she was sure Itachi was going to send her away from the start.

But he had not. In fact, she wasn't sure if he had even noticed, since he spent so much of his time away, making business deals, and reveling in his fame. Of course she had noticed everything about him. How could she not?

Itachi Uchiha was someone that everyone wanted to be, someone always in the public eye. He was wealthy, had a powerful last name, genius intellect, and natural good looks.

And she was hopelessly in love with him.

His hair was a sinful color of dark chocolate, cascading from a simple elastic band to a place just above his slim hips, the bangs parting down the middle and framing his thin but flawless face. His eyes were pure black pools of complexity that merely one emotion didn't even fall close to scratching the surface of, resting beneath long and thick lashes. His skin contrasted well in a color between tan and olive.

His lips were rarely pulled into anything other than a hint of a smile, being a man of hidden or nonexistent emotions. It was impossible to tell when he was actually angry about something if you did not spend much time with him. It made him appear ruthless to his opponents, a tactic he used to his advantage.

His neck was elegant, for either sex, giving way to a slimly muscled body, always dressed in name brand and tailored clothing, which always made him look like he had just stepped off the pages of Vogue or Vanity Fair. Hinata knew, she always handled them when they came home fresh from the cleaners while he way away. She shook her head, realizing that she had been consumed in her own thoughts instead of paying attention to him.

"Yes?" she asked again, earning herself something similar to a glare from him. It stung to be reprimanded by just barely a look, but she was careful not to let it show. It wasn't his fault that she had not been listening to him as she should have been.

"Hot green tea would be fine," he told her, closing his eyes once again. She nodded, retreating with barely a whisper of steps from his office to the spacious kitchen. She knew that hot meant as near boiling as she could possibly make it for him.

That was one of the first things he warned her about. She had served it to him the first night he had returned home from one of his trips, just as she did when she still lived with her cousin, Neji. He didn't spit it out, but he swallowed, his dark eyes flashing.

"Hinata-san, I understand that you may be new, but tea should always be served boiling at my home," he told her, shutting his eyes and avoiding her gaze with a natural air of superiority and dominance over her.

"Sorry," she bowed. "Itachi-sama."She had managed to not cry in front of him, though it had stung more than it should. She had straightened her shoulders as she briskly stepped back to the kitchen to prepare it again. The memory burned fresh every time he requested the tea, just to keep her from repeating the mistake again.

Itachi opened his eyes again just in time to see her disappear though the only slightly opened door, wordlessly as trained. Hinata had been working for him a long time, longer than the others he had hired in the past.

He recalled when he first hired her.

She had come to meet him first thing on a Monday morning. He had been working on an almost impossible stack of paperwork in his office when the dark bell resounded through the house to signal her arrival.

She had tried her hardest to leave the apartment she was sharing with her genius cousin, Neji Hyuuga. But her alarm clock had failed to disturb her fitful sleep, as she had been so nervous about her assignment to an Uchiha household that she had been unable to rest.

She wasn't terribly deviant from her scheduled eight o' clock time only by five minutes, but it was enough to give him an impression of how she might work out. He liked things to be precise and working in a manner, likened to a machine. Hinata just hadn't planned on missing the bus and having to run several blocks to catch it again in the chilly morning air.

He strode down the hall, his footfalls soft and almost inaudible as he headed for the door. Through the frosted glass, he could just make out the outline of a woman. He pulled the door open just enough to hear a gasp before he glanced down. His opening the door had scared her enough to produce the sound.

There was a girl, probably nearly twenty standing on his doorstep, pressing her index fingers together and blushing. Surely this was not the girl they had in mind for him. But she was, having been assigned that Friday previous Monday. Neji had taken her to the agency for a job after he had finished his Friday lab class.

"Yes?" he asked, not daring to open the door any further, should she be a member of the press or burglar, looking for a way in. She looked harmless enough, in fact, she looked fit to faint any second should he open the door more or speak above a whisper. She was dressed in an off-white hoodie, trimmed in faux fur, with slightly hugging sweat pants. Not very professional or intimidating really.

"A-are y-you U-U-Uchiha I-Itachi-s-san?" she stuttered, gazing up at him with huge lavender orbs. She was trembling from head to toe as blush overtook her cheeks. He was handsome, she knew. She had seen his name in the tabloids more than once, Neji always insisting that she quit wasting so much time on them.

"Yes. Who wants to know?"

"I-I'm the g-girl f-from t-the um…" She touched her index fingers a few times before answering, Itachi growing a little annoyed with her wasting his time in this manner. She hated that she couldn't remember the word and that she had to do something to try and remember.

"Agency?" he filled in coldly. She nodded, clearly ashamed of her inability to speak clearly. He wasn't completely without a heart though. The girl was clearly trying her best. His voice chilled her to the bone, but not enough to scare her away when she was so desperate to do a good job at her first job.

"Y-yes," she told him, bravely meeting his gaze.

"Come in then," he sighed, opening the door a little wider, enough to allow her slender body through, before shutting it tightly, should any press be hanging around. She was obedient though, only standing in the doorway until he asked her to move. Or did he mistake her obedience for fear at first?

Under the scrutiny of light from the glass door and the one above her head, he could see her clearly. Yes, she wasn't very threatening or beautiful, like the women he was often seen in the company of. She just wondered what he was staring so intently at, his arms crossed, and his body language clearly speaking "stay away from me."

Her hair was a dull color close to black or maybe purple, cut in something like the female version of a bowl cut with straight bangs and very short, the only thing different was the longer strands framing her face. It was maybe styled a little in the back too, or was that from sleeping on her back?

She was clearly uncomfortable as they stood there awkwardly. Her heart was pounding in her head and so fast her chest plate threatened to shatter. She shifted from foot to foot, unable to meet his piercing gaze. She was essentially nothing as far as status in social circles climbed.

"Your name?" She touched her index fingers together, which was beginning to irritate him more and more with each passing second. Had she forgotten her own name?

"Uzumaki Hinata," she told him. The name didn't strike him as odd and he didn't catch on to her lie. She had merely thought of the last name of her childhood crush that came to her the fastest. She wanted to keep her last name from him, to keep her family's shame under control. She was the black sheep after all, scorned from the ties forever. She would just be an employee. Her first name would do well.

"Hn. Fine, you will be addressed as Hinata-san, and you will not touch your fingers together," he said as he stepped within one foot of her personal space, his presence bearing down on her. She gulped, having never been in this close proximity of a man as beautiful as he was, taking her fingers apart and putting her hands behind her back.

He noted now that she didn't seem to do that anymore. In fact, the stutter had disappeared, probably within a month or two of her working for him. She wasn't that bad of a housekeeper for him. The house was always warm and occupied when he returned home, just like when he was a child, tea or something stronger offered should he need it, meals prepared, the place kept clean.

She was quiet too, minding her business most of the time. Of course, she had to see all sides of his personality, should he ever demonstrate one of them. She was obedient though, perfectly so, and reliable. He dismissed his thoughts, concentrating on the biggest one at hand, though it had to do with her and her obedience to him.

Hinata prepared the tea in the vast expanse of the kitchen. She could recall probably all the times she had seen Itachi use it on one slender hand. It was rather modern with its black tops and chrome appliances. It always felt cold when she was there alone, well really cold anytime, when she really pondered it.

She watched the bubbles rise from the bottom of the stainless steel pot before cutting the stove off and pouring the water into a teapot with the leaves, to seep for a few minutes. She recounted the number of times she had done this for him as well, and not just for him, but for his brother Sasuke when he would visit sometimes, or the girls that had slept over.

The girls were the worst to deal with. Most of them were powerful society icons such as pop singers or models, making the rounds in the magazines, social circles, and beds for that matter. She could only imagine how Itachi's skin would feel on hers as he would close in for a gentle but dominating and powerful kiss.

She could merely daydream about making love with her boss, her hot boss, she corrected, her gaze faraway. It made her quite jealous, she guessed, but she couldn't stop it. If asked, she couldn't say what it was exactly that drew her to the man.

He was cold, sure, but there was something warm under that exterior she was sure. She had seen a hint of it a few times. He had kept her on after all and he did love his brother. She did desire him, no matter how much she couldn't have him; like the carrot dangled in front of an ass' nose for work.

She brushed the thoughts off as she withdrew the leaves in their proper strainer and set up the tray to take to his office. How silly of her, to think that her boss would see her as anything higher than his servant once again.

This time she entered the office without knocking, finding Itachi still lounging but his eyes open, scanning some paperwork. She placed the tray on the table in front of him, pouring the scorching green liquid into the cup, and setting the teapot back on the wood with a small 'thump.'

From the way he was biting his lip, his worried and tired eyes scanning the papers, she knew something on the trip had failed to go as schedule. She hated to see him worry as it was never very good for his skin.

Should she ask what was going on, to step out of her normal bounds a little? Would he even tell her? She had been scrubbing the already polished floors enough that she felt a little change would never hurt. He looked up, wondering what she was still doing around.

"Is something wrong Itachi-sama?" she asked politely. Her simple but friendly question caught him off guard. She never butted into his personal life like this. Sometimes she would ask if a trip was productive or something, but this question denoted a type of familiarity that he never placed her on.

"Since when you do ask such personal questions Hinata-san?" he asked honestly. He watched her eyes flicker for an instant with pain. She was clearly concerned for his well being, like any human being would be, and he extinguished that with a question of his own.

"Sorry," she responded, casting her eyes downward, almost touching her index fingers together like she used to, but instead squaring her shoulders and spinning around to leave. She had work to do after all, where she could cry and no one would know it from sweat or dirty water. Her heart felt like it might break, though that happened more often than it should have.

"Wait," he called after her. Her gentle footfalls stopped but she did not turn around, clearly expecting another order from him. He winced inside a little; he wasn't intentionally so rude. It fluttered to life again. She was already trying to think of the stack of homework she had waiting for her once these tasks were done.

"Yes Itachi-sama?" Her voice was different though, very even and almost sad? The only places she went were to class, but she never spoke that he knew of. He was going to have to tell her soon though, as it did involve her, the paperwork he had been studying. He was also going to have to be nice to her, as his proposal involved her.

"Come back for a moment." He knew that she would follow his request, even as she hesitated and spun back around, approaching him. Her eyes were shining, but he tried to ignore that as she took the seat across from him. Was he going to fire her or something, she wondered.

"Yes?"

"On my latest business trip, I was offered a major share in a company," he said. She nodded, still not looking at him, waiting patiently on his every word. "But the trouble is that it is my family company. My father is giving up his share." As much as she knew about business, which was almost nothing, she understood that was a large thing. "But, he has turned it into a competition between my brother and myself," he sighed, rubbing his temples.

He looked to her, but she wasn't stopping him. "What this means is that he is going to give his part of the company to the brother that has the more successful life."

"Okay," she said, unable to deduct the trouble from that. As far as Itachi was concerned to her, he was successful, but she didn't voice this.

"He is looking for the brother who is more stable in relationships Hinata-san. The one that is more on his way to starting a family and settling down."

"Oh, I see." She understood fairly well. Her father had tried to make her inherit his line of dojos, but she had wished to attend college, more specifically Art College. That had ended in her being removed from the will and being disowned. Neji had never even been in the will and had promptly taken Hinata in, helping her get some type of aid, but she still needed the job.

"Well, not quite. You see Hinata-san, I need to ask something of you." He watched her lavender eyes grow to the size of dinner plates. His tea was growing cold, but he had to get this out of the way first.

"Okay," she nodded. He took a deep breath. He knew that she probably wouldn't refuse, but if she did, then it would be damn near impossible to try and find someone else for the job.

"I need you to be my fiancée," he told her. Had she heard right? Her heart fluttered, feeling as if it were going to flee from her chest cavity. He wanted her to be his fiancée?

"What?" she asked, feeling her throat close up some as the room started spinning.

"I need you to pretend to be my fiancée," he repeated a second time, anxious for her answer. He needed to know if he was going to have to ask his lawyer to find a replacement girl for the part and leave Hinata alone. She had heard him right and she wasn't dreaming as she scraped a fingernail on the bared skin of her arm.

"Excuse me," she responded before she promptly fell forward, her world going black, as Itachi watched her crash to the floor. She hadn't fainted since probably the first day.

X

Author's Note: So what is going to happen next? Like it? Love it? Review.