Title: Vertigo
Type: Naruto Fanfiction
Genre: Romance/Adventure
Pairing: Sasuke x Hinata SasuHina
Characters: Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata
Story Placement: Alternate Storyline fanfiction
Background: It's in a different time and place, the plot is actually the background.
Plot: Once upon time, there was a girl who lived in a tall tower. All she'd ever know was the circular stone walls, the worn silk sheets of her canopy bed, and the man who kept her locked away from the world. But when a clumsy boy literally falls through the roof, Hinata is exposed to a world she'd only seen from the tiny window at the top of the tower and feelings only expressed in story books she read late at night.
Warnings: I will not attempt to attack certain Naruto characters though there is a little anti-Sakura and anti-Ino in the beginning and middle of the story. I do apologize but things do get better for them. I don't even bash my own villains! I can not predict the future of this story but there maybe a yaoi if you squint and turn your head to the left.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything; I was simply inspired by other works and embellished a simple love story.
Author Note: Ah, the fourth chapter! We've introduced all of the main characters and now the actual story gets to start! Meh, I don't know what I'm saying. Blah Blah Blah, Yada Yada Yada, I really have nothing to talk about…

SO…ENJOY!

Vertigo
By Heaven's Drunk

Chapter Four.

How am I supposed to pretend
I never want to see you again

"I'm coming in Hinata-him," He spoke softly and she could hear the jingling of the keys and the agonizingly slow rotation of the lock coming undone and the door knob turning. She began to hyperventilate as the world moved in slow motion. Her savior was going to die right before her and she was too much of a wreck to help.

The intruder looked calm, standing between her and the door, watching steadily as the door swung open and He was revealed. He looked furious, eyes a tiny sliver of black as he stared straight at her. She watched numbly as the two men neared each other, He was slightly taller but it didn't wilt the determination set in his face.

"Lord Orochimaru," He said stiffly, "I should have known, this tower is just at the edge of your property."

"What are you doing here," Something registered in His eyes, recognition and shock. The anger wilted in the face of this stranger's strength and He bowed stiffly.

"My airplane crashed into your roof," the intruder responded stiffly, glancing at the machine still resting in the room.

He stared at the machine, nodding numbly, "Well, I'll have my servants remove it and send you on your way."

He turned briskly back towards the door and gestured for the intruder to follow. The stranger made a strange, hollow chuckle, "You know, I tried to call for the master of the house but the door was locked."

He stiffly halted at the door and turned to the man, "Yes well, as men we know to keep our valuables under lock and key." The intruder turned back to Hinata with a cold, calculating stare. She blushed under his scrutiny and quickly bowed politely. He was staring angrily from beyond the intruder, clenching the brass door knob to the point that it would crack under his grip, "Hinata-hime, please retreat to the bathroom until they have fixed the walls."

She nodded shakily, wary that he could have been subtly hinting that this intruder was going to die and he didn't want her to witness it. She took her pillow and a few blankets and retreated to the bathroom. The two men watched her carefully as she shut and locked the door.

From the inside, she laid out a makeshift bed and laid against the door, waiting for the strike of the dead body hitting the floor. She tried to fight back her tears but the feeling of hopelessness overwhelmed her. If she'd just taken a few steps sooner, she'd be free in the sunlight. But she didn't, rooted to her place in fear; and now she was probably never going to see the light again.

They'd left the room in silence, Sasuke quickly keeping up with Orochimaru. Sasuke was rather bothered by the image of the girl locked away in that room, held captive by the scourge of the kingdom. She was such an interesting girl too.

"It seems that your efforts are more than just protecting a treasure," He felt himself say the words before he'd really thought about the repercussions. Should this man simply turn around and shove a dagger into his side, no one would be the wiser and his body would rot away on this monster's steps. The lanky man turned abruptly, a glint of possessive passion buried deep in those snake-like eyes.

"My Lord," He bowed swiftly, more out of necessity of their position, rather than respect, "Hinata-hime is a beautiful, delicate woman who'd break under any other man's possession. I am merely protecting her so that she may safely blossom."

Sasuke glared down at the man from one step above him, "Flowers bloom better in the sunlight."

"Ah, yes they do," He smiled cruelly, "But they are so easily crushed under the feet of careless children, plucked by naïve women, and eventually neglected by heartless men."

There was a quiet silence that passed the two. Sasuke couldn't argue with this man, His logic was far too obscene and twisted for any logic to make light on the subject of captivity. Sasuke couldn't argue the moral standards of the treatment of women outside of his own territory, so the poor princess would have to suffer in her lonely tower a little longer; just until he could find a way to get her off of this crazed man's property.

"Well then, Orochimaru-san," Sasuke bowed at the door to the outside, laughing at the irony of how simple it was for him to come and go, so difficult for her to do the same, "Until we meet again, you could bill the damages to the castle."

"I shall do so, Sasuke-sama," He bowed, "and you shall have your machine back in a few days. I'll have my mechanic fix it up for you, so these dangerous accidents won't happen again."

"Thank you, Orochimaru-san."

And the door closed tightly. Sasuke sighed audibly and looked up to the top of the Tower. From his position at the bottom, he could see the back end of the machine sticking out from the roof. So a he rotated his direction to where the village was located, he could see the small window in which she would watch the world.

A few servants appeared to be yanking at the machine, creating more of a tear in the wall and damaging his plane further. He sighed again and scratched the back of his head; no one would believe this crazy story. Not even those foolish court girls and their ideas of romance would believe that a girl was locked in the tall; supposedly haunted Tower owned by the freakish scientist, Orochimaru…and that he wanted to rescue her.

He retreated from the Tower into the direction of the village where he'd continue on to the capital. After a few steps, a crinkling noise jolted his memory. He reached under his tunic to a stack of papers held to him by his belt. He pulled them out gently, glancing once again at the title, Rapunzel. He vaguely recalled the story of a girl locked in a tower and a prince scaling it by her hair. It wasn't a story her personally enjoyed but he was suddenly very intrigued by the irony of this story.

He turned back to the Tower, his eyes scaling up the slippery stone to the window where she most likely spent most of her time. From the amount of books scattered from the crash, he was sure this manuscript had belonged to her; even more interesting. He fought the happy grin, knowing by the evidence of this escapee, that she wanted to be rescued. He made plans in his head to visit her; first return the story, then save her from her cage.

Author's Note: Review if you'd like!

Thank you to linalily, realityfling18, Aya, pinkyapple3.0, Emmeline Creazil, Chromde, and The Dragon Guardian of the Sea for reviewing!

Zai Jian!