Please see first chapter for disclaimer, rating, warnings, pairings, etc.

Special Thanks: goes out to Sachiko Heiwajima, NeverInUrWildestDreams, MuffinMan9223, CrimsonNight41, Renoa Heartilly, wolf-enzeru, BlueSmilez, stasoft, rao hyuga 18, Sun, and Tamani for all your wonderful reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this story to their favorites and follows lists - you all are incredible!

Author's Note: Hee-hee, I've been waiting for this chapter! Finally, the two get to meet face to face for the first time. This is gonna be fun! Hope you all enjoy, and thanks for reading!


*~Chapter VIII~*

~Encounter~


Sasuke had just put a couple of steaks on the grill when his front doorbell rang. Smiling, he went in the back patio door, across the living room, then down the hall to the front door to answer it, already knowing who was on the other side. Ninja, who began barking upon hearing the doorbell, stood next to the door on high alert, until a word from his master quieted him.

After being reintroduced to Ninja, Jiraiya grinned broadly at Sasuke. "Are you ready for tomorrow night, my boy?" His booming voice was probably audible all the way down the hill into town, but for once, Sasuke didn't mind.

"As I'll ever be." Stepping back, Sasuke let Jiraiya into the house before closing the door behind him. "I just put the steaks on the grill - your timing is impeccable as always."

Setting down his suitcase and briefcase, Jiraiya shrugged his massive shoulders. "The plane was actually on time for once," he said. As if a plane would ever dare run late for him! "I already had my rental car ready to go when I got to the airport, and traffic was light all the way here."

Sasuke suspected Jiriaya had also broken several speed limits and driven like he was in New York City, but he didn't say so. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too." Jiraiya followed Sasuke through the house to the back deck, where he stood with his hands on his hips as he surveyed the wide expanse of lawn.

Sasuke leaned against the railing and watched as Ninja jumped off the deck and took off across the grass, taking a moment now and then to pick up a toy and shake it before dropping it and running off again. "Thanks for coming all the way out here. I'll feel better having you with me tomorrow."

"No problem, no problem." Jiraiya waved his hand as if he'd come from across town instead of halfway across the country. It was things like these which made Sasuke appreciate having the large white-haired man as his agent; he tended to go above and beyond the call of duty for every single one of his authors. "It's so peaceful out here. I'm a country boy at heart, and sometimes I think living in the big city has made me forget some of the finer things in life. I always enjoy coming out to visit you."

Conveniently not mentioning this was only the third time Jiraiya had done so, Sasuke lifted the top of the grill to check the steaks. Out in the yard, Ninja stopped and pricked his ears, nose twitching as he stared in the direction of the grill, pink tongue lolling out of his mouth longingly. "I really do think I'm ready for tomorrow night."

"Really?" Jiraiya helped himself to one of the drinks sitting on ice in the cooler by the back door. "What made you change your mind?"

Sasuke closed the lid and rubbed his free hand across his mouth, wondering how much he should say. It wasn't so much his fans he looked forward to seeing, but the librarian he'd so closely encountered yesterday. With her long, blue black hair, large lavender eyes, pale skin, and floaty clothes, Hinata had kind of reminded Sasuke of a pixie or elf from one of the fantasy novels in which he occasionally indulged. But it wasn't her appearance - at least, not her obvious appearance - which interested him so.

It was the glimpse of the sunflower tattoo on her ankle which she'd so hurriedly hidden when she saw him noticing it. The blush which stained her cheeks had been quite becoming. The fact she looked just as stressed as he was, and hadn't seemed to recognize him at all, made him feel a little bolder.

He couldn't remember ever feeling so fascinated about someone in his life. Granted, Sasuke didn't really socialize that much, but the few times he did, he'd been in a hurry to get away. But he'd actually found himself wanting to linger at the library and talk to Hinata some more. It was kind of scary, really, finding that out about himself. He wasn't a people person...

...But apparently he was a Hinata person.

"It's a girl, isn't it?" Jiraiya squinted at Sasuke over the top of his can. "I'd know that look anywhere. You're in love." He sounded surprised yet pleased.

Snatching up his own half-empty can, Sasuke scowled at the top of the grill and muttered, "You don't know what you're talking about." And yet the image of that sunflower tat on her slender ankle still teased the back of his mind... He just couldn't get rid of it, no matter how hard he tried.

And yes, he had tried very hard.

...A couple of times.

Ninja came back up onto the deck, stopping for an obligatory scratch from Jiraiya before going to lie down at Sasuke's feet. Undoubtedly, he was hoping his master would accidentally-deliberately drop some of the meat he was grilling. "Not going to happen, boy," Sasuke muttered, setting down his can again without taking a drink. "You've got your own food inside. Go eat it."

Jiraiya grinned, a suspicious glint in his eyes. "You're avoiding my question. That means I'm right. You've met someone!" He glanced over his shoulder, as if he could see through the house, down the hill, and into town. "Who is she? What does she do? And, most importantly, how did she catch your eye when you stay holed up in here as if you're expecting the zombie apocalypse?"

Sasuke clenched his jaw and resisted the surprisingly childish urge to roll his eyes. "I don't stay here all the time," he said defensively. "I go out occasionally to get groceries, or eat out, or-"

"Always in disguise, though." Jiraiya's eyes suddenly widened. "Don't tell me she doesn't even realize who you are? Are you lying to her?" He looked shocked.

"No, she doesn't realize who I am, and no, I'm not lying to her." Sasuke slammed open the lid of the grill again, wishing he could flip Jiraiya over the flames along with the meat.

"I knew it! There is a girl." Jiraiya leaned back against the railing again, making sure Sasuke saw his smug grin before taking another drink.

And of course Sasuke had walked neatly into his agent's trap. "She's the librarian. I - uh - caused her a little bit of trouble by pulling some books from the shelf without telling her. I didn't leave the premises with them, but someone came in looking for them and she thought they were lost. She found me putting them back. And we talked for a minute." Mostly she talked and he ogled her tattoo.

She just didn't strike him as the type to have a tattoo. He was dying to know the story behind it. He liked having things tied up in a nice neat little bow and knowing the entire story. He was an author, so he had plenty of ideas about why she had it; it just seriously bothered him that he didn't know the real reason.

"And it was love at first sight?" Jiraiya sounded positively gleeful. He was enjoying this way too much.

"Of course not. There's no such thing." But Sasuke had a feeling there was, because there was no other name for the feelings which had slammed straight into his chest. He hadn't paid that much attention to her the first time he saw her, but this time he'd paid far too much attention to her. Now he couldn't get her out of his head.

And, ironically, every time he tried to come up with the hero for his new book, the character always morphed into a heroine who bore a rather striking resemblance to Hinata the librarian.

"I can't wait to see her tomorrow." Jiraiya set aside his now-empty can, his expression thankfully businesslike. "Speaking of tomorrow, I thought we'd get to the library early so we can talk to that Senju woman, familiarize ourselves with the place, and get settled before people start showing up. That all right with you?"

Under ordinary circumstances, Sasuke would insist on showing up late and sneaking in the back door. But that one little sunflower tattoo foolishly had him agreeing to his agent's plan without even sparing a thought to arguing.

Oh, he was in big, big trouble.


Hinata wrinkled her nose as she put another of the library's copies of Uchiha Sasuke's book on the display Tsunade told her to put together in the activities room. She knew a lot of people would probably already own copies, but Tsunade wanted the library's copies close at hand just in case a few people showed up who didn't.

Scattered among the display were items straight out of a horror movie. All the prop knives, and skulls, and other macabre paraphernalia they used to decorate for Halloween lay scattered artistically across the tabletop, and Hinata thought the only thing missing was police crime scene tape. She briefly entertained the thought of calling her friend Kiba, who served on Konoha's K-9 unit with his big white dog Akamaru, but on second thought, the crime tape might be too much.

Across the room, Shiho appeared in the doorway and pushed her big round glasses up on her nose. "They'll be here any minute. Everything ready?"

Adjusting the largest skull, Hinata stepped back and looked at the arrangement with mingled satisfaction and disgust. "Just finished."

Tsunade came into the room, dressed in red and black to match the mood. "Perfect," she told Hinata, eyeing the table display. "If I didn't treasure you so much as a librarian, I'd suggest you go into the interior decorator business."

While Hinata wondered what arranging a table with horror novel paraphernalia had to do with choosing paint and carpet colors, Shiho glanced over her shoulder and then visibly jerked. "They're here!" she whispered loudly enough to be heard in the next county.

Drawing in a deep breath, Tsunade smoothed her hands down the front of her dress, spun, and pushed past Shiho to enter the main part of the library. "Welcome to Konoha Public Library!"

Hinata looked down at her long flowered summer dress, wondering if she was underdressed for the occasion. Between Tsunade's black and red number and Shiho's Halloween costume (apparently she'd decided to dress up as a victim from one of the books), she felt like she'd shown up for a classical concert when a heavy metal rock band was actually scheduled to play.

Shiho fluttered her hands in front of her face and looked pleadingly at Hinata. "How do I look?" she whispered.

Honestly, Hinata wasn't sure what to say. The only things which popped into her head weren't really that complimentary, so she finally settled on, "You match the theme really well."

Fortuantely, Shiho seemed satsified by that. Smiling, she came fully into the room and picked up a stack of fliers off the chair next to the doorway. It was still over an hour before the event was set to begin, but Hinata admired her fellow employee's initiative.

Approaching voices preceded Tsunade's appearance in the doorway by a few seconds. A huge, bulky shadow appeared behind her. Hinata blinked at the sight of a tall, imposing, broad-shouldered white-haired man who stared at the back of Tsunade's blonde head as if he'd just been struck by Cupid's arrow.

Hinata turned slightly and peeked at the poster at the front of the room, which had been moved from behind her desk. She really couldn't see any resemblance between the man in the poster and the one who had just come through the door.

And then he and Tsunade stepped aside, and she saw the other man standing there, previously hidden by the big man's sheer bulk.

Uchiha Sasuke looked absolutely nothing like Hinata expected. Dressed in stonewashed jeans and a red button-up shirt with a black tie, he looked like he should be headed out for a date rather than talking about horror novels. Other than the pale skin and spiky dark hair, he looked absolutely nothing like his poster.

He looked across the room, and their eyes met. Black, not photoshopped red like in the poster. But no less intense than those in the blownup photograph.

Unsettled, Hinata looked away first, nervously adjusting the closest book even though it was already ruler-straight. She sensed him still watching her, his dark eyes studying her profile, her hair, her clothing; and undoubtedly finding her wanting.

After all, she didn't fit the theme. It seemed like she never fit in with her surroundings, no matter where she was.

"Did you arrange this display?"

The voice directly behind her made Hinata jump. Whirling around, she saw him standing less than a foot away, his hands in his pockets, his admiring gaze on the tabletop. He'd moved so quickly and quietly she hadn't heard him approach.

"Ah - yes. Yes, I did." Not by choice, though. When Tsunade assigned her the job, Hinata wanted to beg her boss to ask Shiho to do it. But the other woman was busy hanging red and black draperies over the walls, and besides being the head of the library, Tsunade was on and off the phone so often she couldn't do it. Which left only poor Hinata to arrange the nasty books, and knives, and hatchets, and skulls...

"It looks good." With a nod, Sasuke looked around the rest of the room, his expression unreadable. "So you work here, huh?"

Hinata glanced down at the name tag pinned to her dress, biting back the sarcastic comment bubbling to her lips. Tsunade had worked so hard to lure Sasuke to the library - she'd not only fire Hinata but kill her if she insulted the man almost as soon as he walked in the door. "Yes. I'm here on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays. Shiho-" she indicated her coworker with a tilt of her head "-is here on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays."

Sasuke didn't even glance in Shiho's direction. Instead, he looked back down at the table display, his dark eyes seeming to skip over the book covers in favor of focusing on the other things. "Have you read any of my books?"

"The day I read that sorry excuse for literature is the day my father will finally admit he doesn't always know best." Oops. The acerbic words spurted past her lips without permission. Even though they were very true, though, she wished she could recall them. Tsunade is going to kill me. She's going to torture me, then draw and quarter me, drag my remains into the woods, and then feed me to the wolves. She swallowed hard, wondering if she should just run or stay for the reaming out undoubtedly about to begin.

Instead of exploding like she'd expected him to do, Sasuke raised one eyebrow. "'Excuse for literature,' huh?" He glanced down at the twelve books scattered across the table. "I don't know, it's offered me a pretty good life. Keeps a roof over my head and food on the table, at least." Without waiting for her to speak again, he went on to ask, "What counts as literature in your book, then?"

Hinata fought to keep her jaw from dropping at the unexpected question. Of all the reactions she'd expected him to have, that one never even entered her mind. "Um," she began, quite intelligently. Giving herself a mental slap, she went on, "The classics, of course. Poe, Keats, Doyle, Austin, Shakespeare, Lewis, Tolkein-"

"Good authors, all of them." A strange little grin half-quirked the corner of Sasuke's lips. "Except for Austin. Can't speak about her, since I've never read her work."

But apparently he'd heard of her, which shocked Hinata. Almost as much to hear Sasuke say he'd read things by the others, too. Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "I dread the events of the future, not in themselves, but in their results. I shudder at the thought of any, even the most trivial, incident, which may operate upon this intolerable agitation of soul."

When Hinata paused for a breath, Sasuke continued smoothly, "I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect -in terror. In this unnerved-in this pitiable condition -I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR." He watched her with narrow eyes, but she thought she could see amusement gleaming in their midnight depths. "The Fall of the House of Usher. My favorite of Edgar Allen Poe's short stories." The corner of his mouth quirked. "A true literary genius, indeed. I've referenced several of his works in my books. In fact, in Raven's Wing, the villian was obsessed with Poe's works and left snippets of his writing at the scenes of his murders."

Hinata really couldn't tell if Sasuke was making fun of her or what. The Fall of the House of Usher was her favorite of Poe's stories, as well, and the fact he said it was his - and he'd finished the quote word for word - unsettled her in ways she couldn't quite name.

Swallowing hard, Hinata offered him a stiff smile. "Excuse me, please, but I have to get back to the front desk. Enjoy your evening." Spinning on her heel, she walked (quickly) across the room, slipped past Tsunade and Jiriaya, and returned to her post behind the desk. Someone needed to be there, after all, just in case people with a lick of sense and a discerning literary taste showed up.

If she ever talked to Uchiha Sasuke again, it would be too soon.

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: Poor Sasuke and his "sorry excuse for literature." Heh-heh. And poor Hinata, for sticking her foot in her mouth so many times. But I really adored writing this scene, really letting them both go at it with each other, with only one of them knowing who the other really is. Part of my purpose of writing this is for the whole tongue-in-cheek factor - I'm not going to heap on the melodrama, but every now and then I might play something up a bit. (For instance, Hinata likes Poe - who is a bit of a macabre writer, albeit in a very intellectual sort of way. Kind of like Sasuke, though she doesn't realize it yet. In her opinion, all modern horror/thriller writers are more obsessed with blood, guts, and gore than actually telling a thought-provoking story.) I hope that makes sense. But yes, yes, I've very much been looking forward to sharing this chapter with you. And as for her not seeming to recognize him as the disguised book-borrower - oh, I have a plan. And it is a fun one. (And is it just me, or does anyone else think Sasuke would look really yummy in stonewashed jeans?) Thank you all so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you all again for next week's update!

Additional Author's Note: I am adding this little note in because I have gotten several reviews left for the express reason of pointing out that Hinata is OOC. I already know this, and that is the point. Hinata is under an incredible amount of stress, and she is starting to reach the point where she is going to start reacting in ways she ordinarily wouldn't. I am not writing this story to make Hinata into a jerk, I am simply showing that she is a normal person who has been told repeatedly she is stupid and been made fun of by various people over the course of her life (including her own father), and everything is finally coming to a head now. Everyone eventually reaches a point where they cannot take the stress anymore and have no choice but to break or go insane, and Hinata has reached that point. Please stop leaving reviews just to point this out, because I already know it and am writing it that way for a reason. Thank you.