Chapter 3
Attention! (Hey there! I haven't written in awhile...sorry about that I wasn't sure of where to go from after chapter two and schoolwork. So to continue the story forward I'm skipping a little bit. Hinata has lived with Sasuke for a week, gotten used to the palace (which is based on the Hein palace). Anyways on with the story!


Moonbeams danced across the room as Hinata sat quietly on her futon. She had gotten accustomed to life with her "husband".

Every morning she prepared breakfast for Sasuke while he was on the training grounds, then they would eat together in silence. Almost the exact same routine for lunch and dinner. The two had separate living spaces, which was fine with her. There was only one hot spring, as well as one library, both of which she was allowed to use. The lord of the palace however, did strictly instruct her not to use any of the other rooms without his permission. The girl never talked unless he asked her something, and he never talked unless he felt the need. Hinata did not want to anger the man so she kept to herself. The only time she asked him something was permission to tend to the garden she had seen through the window next to his quarters. He gave his reply with a curt nod and left shortly after.

She stared out the window, and with a small sigh she rose from her futon and quietly exited her room. Hinata could not sleep, thoughts of her friends and other memories of her life before meeting Sasuke ran through her mind. Aimlessly walking around, she found herself in front of the garden. With the pale glow of the crescent moon the garden looked mesmerizingly beautiful to her. Pulling her kimono a little closer, Hinata continued walking. She gently caressed the petals of a flower here and there, and stopped when she reached a large cherry blossom tree. It stood proudly in the center of the garden, with buds ready to bloom soon. "You're still awake," a low voice startled the girl.
"Y-yes, I am very sorry if I awoke you." Hinata apologized with a deep bow.
"Hn." Sasuke acknowledged her apology with a grunt.

At that she observed him silently. Without a doubt the he was attractive, his piercing dark, onyx eyes and jet black hair that blew in the gentle breeze. His expression was calm as he gazed up at the moon through the tree. As well as his slightly muscular build, and at those thoughts Hinata blushed lightly and scolded herself for letting her mind wander. As she too turned to watch the moon he turned his attention towards her and asked, "Why are you still up?"
"W-Well," she started hesitantly, "I was thinking about how my life was previously." Hinata said earnestly.

Sasuke wasn't completely sure how to respond to that, after all he was the reason her life had changed so much. He then looked down at her, she reached at the least, maybe, the top of his shoulder. After a few more seconds of watching her in silence, he turned and paused for awhile. "You should probably try to get some sleep," he stated, then continued walking without looking back.
The pale eyed girl blinked and replied, "I-I will in a minute."

When he was completely out of her sight Hinata let out a breathe of air that she didn't realize she had been holding in. Sure the man intimidated her, but there was something about the way that he gazed at the moon that tugged at her heart. She thought that there was almost a look of longing and reminiscence in his pitch black eyes. Immediately shaking off the thought she started her way back to her room. With her mind elsewhere Hinawas was oblivious to her surroundings and completely forgot about the step up on the way out of the garden and suddenly felt herself falling. She shut her eyes tightly, preparing for the worst. But the impact did not come, well at least not onto the wooden floor. Instead she found herself on top of the only other person in the palace, none other than Uchiha Sasuke. "You need to watch where you're going," he commented.
"I-I'm. I am. S-so sorry!" The poor girl quickly got up and bowed, her face flushed red with embarrassment.

After the third quick bow she hurriedly left for her room. Sasuke stood up himself and watched her leave. Truth be told he had expected this to happen, he noticed that when she let her mind wander she became a bit clumsy and has a dazed sort of look on her face. He didn't like people, but her presence he tolerated. He didn't care about other people, but did observe how they acted. Without a doubt Sasuke felt he had made the right choice in choosing a young woman who seemed calm, instead of the ones who gave him a headache just by looking at their appearances. At that time he was at his room and closed the door silently, ironically he had told the girl to sleep when he himself hadn't dreamt since that one night so long ago.


~In Konoha~

"Where is she?" A cold voice spoke in the shadows.
"How should I know! You are the only one to blame here for letting her leave!" Another voice, much younger, snapped.
"Living with that Uchiha." Yet another voice, though serious, spat.
"This may benefit us." The first voice said with a greedy smile.

All who were present agreed with this, the leader then dismissed everyone with one last statement, "But time is an important key we must strike when it is right."


Author's Comments: Dun, Dun, Duh! Cliffhanger, sort of. Can anyone guess the voices? :D I promise to make the chapters longer just felt that I needed to update something at least. Sorry for the long wait!

~StormyNightSea~