Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It rightfully belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

"Sometimes sought out, sometimes rejected, sometimes around by force of habit or mere happenstance." -Anonymous

Chapter 1: The One with the Camera

Click.

It was late afternoon, and the sun was already low on the horizon, spreading a beautiful orange hue across the sky and forming shadows among the houses lining the streets. It was a wonderful cloudless day and Hinata took every opportunity to use her "new" camera, which was not new at all. In fact, she had found it while rummaging through her family's old storage room in one of the huge dusty cardboard boxes piled on top of each other.

The day had begun slowly for her. She couldn't train because of the injuries she had acquired during Team 8's last mission, to which her father pointed out to her disapprovingly. She was advised not to tire herself too much for a few days. She couldn't train, and she didn't feel like gardening either, so she just lay on her bed all morning counting the cracks on the ceiling and probably the walls too. When boredom finally overwhelmed her, she decided to wander around the Hyuuga compound, eager to find something with which she could kill time.

It was by mere accident that she came upon the old storage room, which was located at the edge of the Main family's part of the compound. She was just walking down the hall when she saw Neji, purposeful strides coming her way. She had turned a corner then, gliding through a narrow hallway leading to the gardens. Her cousin still scared her a bit, even though they were on better terms now. But still…

That was how she came upon an old shed surrounded by a few rose bushes. There was an uneven stone pathway leading towards it. She had passed this garden countless of times before but had not thought the shed was particularly interesting. It seemed to be the sort of type you walk by without really noticing.

Curious and bored as she was that day, she walked up the stone steps until she was in front of the door. She turned the knob. It was unlocked. She went in to find herself surrounded by several rows of cardboard boxes piled neatly on top of each other covering the walls from floor to ceiling. It was amazing really how the Hyuugas still managed to make an old storage room so neat.

Hinata reached for one of the boxes on the lowest pile. She had expected to find some scrolls, maybe even a few old weapons. What she didn't expect was to find several journals with pages torn and yellowed from old age. Apparently they were owned by past family members. She put them back inside, neither having the interest nor the energy to read one of them. She reached for another box. This time she found a few pieces of broken mechanical devices, a wall clock with a cracked face, a calculator with some of its keys missing, and of course, her camera. It seemed to be in perfect condition minus the dust and a few small scratches here and there. She still had her doubts though, so she decided to try it out.

She had searched the whole compound for film to go with the camera, after finding out that it was empty. It was an hour later that she found one. All that was wrong with the camera was its loud noise when she clicks, but Hinata figured it was normal. The only way to reassure her that it wasn't broken was if the pictures would turn out right after she developed the film. So she had spent the entire afternoon, walking around Konoha randomly shooting at anything that seemed remotely interesting.

Here she was, strolling along the sidewalks, almost bumping into a food stall once. She apologized after, of course. Hinata pointed her camera from the sky towards the training grounds to the left. She only had one shot left before the film was ready to be developed. The sun had already disappeared and it was getting hard for her to see through the lens without using her bloodline. Finally lowering the camera down, she was about to turn to way towards the Hyuuga compound when she heard some noises near the trees like metal hitting wood.

'Who could be training this late?', she wondered. Curiosity getting the best of her, she slowly approached the training grounds where she heard the noise, camera poised as if ready to take a shot. She silently walked around a few trees and let out a gasp when she found Sasuke deftly throwing kunais onto a tree, shirtless and covered with sweat. His bare chest gleamed under the disappearing sunlight. The shadows emphasized the contours of his face, and the well-developed muscles of his arms, rippling as he threw several kunais onto a tree.

That would have been enough to make most girls swoon. To Hinata, however, it was a bit different. Sure she had seen several guys without their shirts on. She was on a team with two of them for God's sake! And she had already seen Neji in the same condition too, albeit too many times.

She hadn't meant to stare at Sasuke longer than was appropriate. It was Sakura and Ino's hobby, not hers. No, definitely not. So why the hell couldn't she stop staring? Next thing she knew, there was a bright flash and a loud clicking noise. It took a while for her to figure out that it was her camera. She had accidentally pressed her finger on the button when she was gripping her camera too hard. She hoped Sasuke didn't notice. Tough luck with that.

In a split second that was even quicker than her camera flash, Sasuke had grabbed her from behind, one arm encircling her neck. Her surprise had caused her to drop her camera to Sasuke's waiting hand. She gulped, sure to be in trouble soon. If only she could quickly find a way to escape…

"Hyuuga, isn't it?" She felt his breath prickling her ear. She was sweating now. "I didn't expect you out of all the people to be spying on me."

Her eyes widened, her mouth open ready to retort, "I-I wasn't..!"

"Then why did you take a picture of me, hm?", he said, bringing his face closer, taunting her further. She could feel his smirk on the side of her face. "

The only other reason could be…" A pause. "Don't tell me you've fallen for me, Hyuuga."

"W-what?!" Hinata shrieked, eyes widening. She struggled futilely against him. He was too strong for her. 'H-how could he think-?!"

"No?" He seemed to be contemplating on something. She wasn't sure what exactly. "I'm just going to take this camera of yours then."

Her head whipped around almost bumping into his. "What? Why?!"

By now, she had successfully struggled free of his arms, and was now shrieking at him, to his amusement.

"Because…", he said, drawing out the word as if teasing her. "It has a picture of me in it, that one you took without my permission."

She lowered her head guiltily, hands under her chin and index fingers pressing together. This was a habit that was really hard to get rid of, especially when she was nervous.

"S-sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"I'll have the pictures developed tomorrow. I'll only take the picture of me. I can give you rest… tomorrow. " He said as he took out the film and handed back the camera to her, but not before taking a picture of her bewildered face. Her eyes blinked rapidly from the bright flash.

"Payback" With that and a smirk, he quickly turned away. He disappeared before she could even start a protest.

xXxXxXxXxXx

The following afternoon, Hinata found herself, yet again, wandering along the streets of Konoha, camera in hand with a new roll of film. It was crowded since it was just after lunchtime. She looked around. No sign of Sasuke. She sighed in relief. He intimidated her, and she had no plans of meeting him again anytime soon. That's for sure.

'I don't care if he took all those pictures. He can have them as long as he stays away from me.'

As if reading her thoughts, Sasuke had appeared behind a group of people in front of a shop. It was too soon for them to meet. She hadn't brought up her courage yet. Hinata immediately ducked away, hoping against hopes that he wouldn't see her. But as usual and as expected of the legendary Uchiha, he spotted her right away.

"Hey, Hyuuga!" He called out to her, making a few heads turn their way. There was no escape now. To turn away would simply be too impolite. Not to mention it will be the sole topic for gossip among the villagers for the whole week. After all, who ever heard of someone, a girl, turning down the Uchiha Sasuke. She certainly did not want that kind of attention, regardless of how much she really really wanted to run away from him at that moment.

Sasuke walked up to her in long confident strides, seemingly unfazed by the stares he received from several girls. When he was only a few feet from her, he said, "Here." He handed her a small envelope which she assumed contained the pictures from yesterday.

Hinata blinked, unsure of what to say. She let out a squeak when she saw him glaring at her. What'd she do?

"Um, er, thanks?" She stammered, the ever present blush on her face.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Hyuuga." And then, as quickly as he had come, he left. She was standing there in the middle of the street holding the envelope and her camera. She had barely spoken three words to him. She let out a relieved sigh, 'That's good.' Then she turned in the opposite direction of Sasuke.

Hinata had not noticed the red in his cheeks as he turned away, or the small smile that had replaced the usual frown on his face as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop.

xXxXxXxXxXx

After she had her dinner with her father and little sister, she went directly towards her bedroom. They didn't seem to have minded at all. Exhausted from the day's events, she plopped down on her bed and grabbed the nearest pillow. Her eyes closed and she thought of a dark-haired boy with that arrogant smirk on his face. She groaned and squeezed her eyes, trying to get rid of the memory. She did not like him one bit.

'Although I do have to admit… he is good-looking.' Her thoughts led to images of Sasuke with his bare chest covered with sweat. Eyes widening and a deep red blush on her face, she shot up and shook her head. 'No! I mustn't think that!'

Her eyes swept across the room and caught a glimpse of the envelope lying carelessly on her dresser. Seizing the opportunity to occupy her thoughts with something different and more appropriate, she opened it and took out the pictures. One by one she scanned them, pausing every now and then when she found a picture that was interesting. There seems to be no problem with the camera after all. Once she finished, she couldn't help but feel that there was something missing, something she had forgotten. Frowning, she scanned the pictures again.

'Of course, Sasuke took his picture, but what-" Suddenly, her eyes widened as if remembering something important, which was important indeed. She gasped in realization. Sasuke took the picture with her in it!

The picture, in which she had been in a disheveled state, her hair sticking out on all sides, sweat rolling down the side of her pale face, her expression of shock, of pure embarrassment… He took that picture!

Hinata groaned. He's probably laughing at her now.

xXxXxXxXxXx

On another part of the village, in an estate that was almost as vast as the Hyuuga compound, Sasuke slept peacefully. Beside him, in the first drawer of his bedside table, placed under a number scrolls was a small photo. In it was a girl in the foreground with short dark hair, white eyes widened and mouth slightly open in shock, and a cute blush spread across her face.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

A/N: It's a weird photo of Hinata for Sasuke to have but I think it's cute anyway.

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