Chapter 4

Pleasure to meet you

The day began a new with the melodious sounds of birds singing in the distance. Where the sounds of nocturnal creatures were silenced by the welcoming of the sun. The night sky gradually faded from night to day. The sun's ray's slowly peeked over the horizon, initiating the commencement of the day. And with this brand new day the Village Hidden in the Leaves started to come alive. The villagers one by one began to trickle out of their homes to start their daily routine. Most Shop keepers would opened their stalls and adjusted their trinkets and merchandise in a way that appealed to the customers' eye. Bakers were in their Bakery's kitchen kneeing, rolling and baking fresh bread and pastries; adding icing wherever was needed. The smell of the still baking goods would often drift into to the roads giving off a very pleasant smell. Produce sellers and butchers would hustle and bustle around their stalls to ensure they had the best quality of food to sell. To the citizens of Konoha it was going to be a wonderful day.

At the edge of the village, in a Inn called "The Red Koi" there was a room occupied by a slumbering Uchiha. Sasuke was naturally a morning person. He would often wake up before dawn, not just due to the nightmares, but because he would train himself into the ground just to get stronger. He needed to get stronger. He would always look for a way to release his pent up frustrations, whether it be training or traveling, but not today. Today, was the first time in a long time that he slept in.

As the sunlight filled the room in which he slept, a very much still sleepy Sasuke clad in only a towel, was roused from his sleep. Sasuke gave a moan of dissatisfaction as he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes roamed around his surroundings not recognizing them at first suddenly his memories of the night before returned to him. He was back in Konoha. He slowly sat up on the bed and rubbed his face trying to get rid of the grogginess. Once the feeling faded, Sasuke got up off the bed and began to get ready for the day. He had things to do.

Once Sasuke was done dressing and readying himself for the day. He exited his room, locking the door behind himself, and jiggled the handle to make sure the door was locked. He continued his way down the hall and towards the stairs. When he reached the first floor, he was greeted by the Inn owner Hideki Oshiro. Sasuke nodded his head in greeting.

"Morning, Sasuke. Did you sleep well?" asked Oshiro.

"Hn, I did. It has been a while since I have been able to relax and sleep in. I was thinking of going around the village to familiarize myself. Tell me Oshiro? How much has the village changed? It looks like I have missed a lot while I was away?" asked Sasuke.

"Well young Sasuke, after the war, the village was in need of help. We "the village" I mean were trying to fix the damage left behind by a mad man from that criminal group "The akatsuki". He sure did a number on the village. As I was saying, we needed help, both the Hokage; Hatake Kakashi and former Hokage Lady Tsunade, with the help of Uzumaki Naruto, of course. They sought out assistance from our allies. Apparently, when word spread that The Hero of the Ninja World needed help, some of the Hidden Villages and many of the smaller villages offered their help. I remember there being carpenters from the Land of Waves that helped with building homes. I think I also heard that there were people from the Land of Green and the Land of Snow helping out too. Though, due to everyone's assistance with the rebuilding of the village. The infrastructure changed from when you were a young lad. The good thing with all this rebuilding though is that it opened a path to many new businesses and new trade routes with neighboring villages. The village has been flourishing since" said Oshiro proudly.

"Hn, to think that idiot managed to do something right, for once" said Sasuke smirking.

"Yes, Uzumaki Naruto has done this village good. I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes Hokage after Hatake-san" informed Oshiro.

"I doubt anyone would be better suited for the job then Naruto. That moron will definitely become Hokage" said Sasuke thoughtfully.

"Indeed he will" agreed Oshiro.

With the conversation coming to an end. Sasuke once again nodded his head to the owner and exited the Inn. Once outside, Sasuke took in the feel of early morning rays on his skin. A gentle breeze whooshed passed him. Lightly swaying his hair back and forth. The breeze was nice, it brought with it the pleasant smells of the activity in the village. At this Sasuke started his trek down the road he walked last night after he departed from the Hokage building. He passed by his District's gate and noticed that the yellow tape was no longer on the gate doors. "Looks like Kakashi kept his word" thought Sasuke. Taking one last look Sasuke continued on his way down the road. It wouldn't be long before he would get to the market. Once there he can take a good look around and get something to eat from somewhere decent. He wasn't really that picky. Anything would be fine as long as it wasn't Nato, maybe he could add tomatoes to his food. Lots of tomatoes. He would also need to stop somewhere and look for clothes. A couple of changes would do. Nothing to fancy. Just something comfortable to wear and train with. Kami knows he needed them badly. Who knows maybe in the process, while looking around, he might come across Naruto and Sakura. This way he wouldn't have to make the effort to go and look for them himself. And if by the off chance he comes across HER. Well, he would have to come up with something to say or do to get reacquainted with her. He shook his head. Oh! how the tables have turned. He remembered when he was on the receiving end of all the girls in his class's affection. He couldn't even make it to his seat without someone proclaiming their undying love for him. They acted like they knew him or knew what love really meant. Those girls knew nothing. He looked out into the distance and saw that he wasquickly approaching the main market road in the center of the village.

When Sasuke reached the Center of the village. It was filled with lots of stores and stalls of every kind. He stood there, eyes wide, looking at every which way. Though, he tried not to show it. He was feeling a little overwhelmed with all the changes to the village. There were stores that looked like they only sold jewelry, hair pins, and accessories for women. He could see several grocery stores, meat markets, and bakeries. There were kid stores that sold toys and books, he saw a few that looked like they sold fabrics and clothes. He even saw a weapons shop and a ninja gear store. There were so many stores to look through. There was even a little tea shop amidst of all the businesses. And not to mention the large number of restaurants that lined the main road. He knew then that Oshiro was not bluffing when he said that the rebuilding of the village gave way to many businesses. Sasuke could only prayed he got through this day in one piece. Shaking his head and preparing himself. Sasuke casually strolled into his first store which happened to be a shop that sold fabrics and clothes.

After exiting his eighth shop that day and his arm filled to the elbow with bags. He was officially "done with shopping forever". All the shop keepers were quite literally trying to shove all of their merchandise down his throat. They kept asking him to purchase one thing after the other. He had to politely declined several times. And by politely, he meant, threatened to Chidori them to the after life if they didn't leave him alone. He was so annoyed by the end of the eighth shop that he literally stormed out mumbling a few curses on his way out. He was so caught up on trying not to punch someone, that he failed to notice a slender feminine hand reaching out to him. It wasn't until he felt the gentle tug on the bags that had him reeling back. Standing next to him with her hand on one of his many bags and a small shy smile on her pouty pink lips, was none other then the girl he wanted to talk to. The Hyuga woman. Hyuga Hinata.

To Sasuke it felt like he couldn't move. His heart started to accelerate slightly and his palms were getting sweaty. This was the first time Sasuke noticed that he was becoming increasingly nervous around someone that wasn't some over powered bad guy. The only other time he felt like this was when Naruto and himself were facing Otsutsuki Kaguya during the war. He just couldn't for the life of him figure out why this was happening. He knew he wanted to talk to her, she had unintentionally caught his attention, and that sent she wore brought up memories that put his raging heart at ease. So why now? Why when she was standing in such close proximity, couldn't his mouth just open up and say hello. So Sasuke being the socially awkward guy he was did what he thought any guy would do in this situation. He just stood there and stared at her, but really stared at her from head to toe.

She was gorgeous, from her lovely indigo hair that framed her beautiful heart shaped face, to her mesmerizing eyes, and her sensuous neck. This woman looked like she was sculpted by the heavens themselves. Kami-sama must have taken such good care making her. She had a very well proportionate figure that any woman would kill to have and any man would love to drool over. She is of average height which help accentuate all her body's curves. Her breast were not huge but they were not small either. She was definitely not flat chested. Her waist looked slim not too lean and muscular. It had just enough meat on her to look healthy. And her hips, Oh Kami her hips, those were child bearing hips. He could get lost with every curve of her body. Sasuke couldn't help but stare. He was still a hot blooded male filled with raging hormones and she a very beautiful woman. He was abruptly taken out of his musings when he heard her soft-spoken voice. It was soothing to his ears.

"Hi, um, I-I noticed that you were walking away upset and um you were carrying all these heavy bags and I-I wanted to help you carry some to wherever it was you were going" said Hinata fidgeting. "N-Not that I was following you or anything!" she shook her head vigorously. "I-I just thought that maybe you would need some help. N-Not that you may need it or anything because your strong and and..." said Hinata nervously pushing her pointer finger together. "Oh God! I'm rambling" exclaimed Hinata throwing her hands up and giving up on her explanation. She hasn't done that in years. She thought she had gotten rid of that annoying tick. It seemed to her that somethings were just hard to get rid of.

Sasuke noticed how nervous she was while talking to him, at least he wasn't the only one feeling awkward and nervous. The whole situation was enough to make him chuckle a little. Here he was nervously standing and looking at her, not knowing what to do with himself, while she stood there rambling on just as nervous as he was. He took comfort in knowing he wasn't alone in this. Taking a moment to build a little bit of confidence. Sasuke placed his bags on the ground and raised his hand to greet her.

"Name's Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke. It's a pleasure to meet you" greeted Sasuke. He thought she would greet him back and both of them would move on to simpler conversations. What he did not expect, was for her to pause, look at him like he was weird and start giggling to his face. This made Sasuke narrow his eyes a bit. "What's so funny?" asked Sasuke slightly annoyed.

"N-Nothing. Nothing. I-I know who you are Sasuke-kun. I just thought it was funny that you were introducing yourself to me. That's all" giggled Hinata. "We have been classmates since w-we were children. Y-You sat a few rows ahead of me in class. I-I think it is safe to say that you didn't recognize me. I-I would've recognized you anywhere Sasuke-kun. I-I bet I changed a lot from my academy and genin days, right Sasuke-kun?" asked Hinata

"You have no idea" mumbled Sasuke.

"Huh? Come again?" asked Hinata.

"I said, you've changed. I didn't recognize you at all." said Sasuke.

"W-Well, for what its worth. Its a pleasure to m-meet you too" smiled Hinata. "Say w-would you like to have tea with me. If your not doing anything that is!" rushed Hinata. "T-There is this little tea shop close by a-and they have the most marvelous tea there. You d-don't have to come if you don't want to. I-I would understand if you were busy" said Hinata hopefully.

"Hn, Let's go" said Sasuke.

"Really?!" wondered Hinata.

"Really. So lead the way" said Sasuke.

Hinata took some of Sasuke's bags from the floor in her hands and began to walk away. Sasuke was ready to protest, but one look at her, had him keeping his mouth shut. She turned her head slightly towards the back when she noticed that Sasuke wasn't following her. So she called back to him.

"Just Follow me. Its not far from here" said Hinata.

Sasuke couldn't do anything but look at her. All of her mannerisms were perfect including her cute stutter. Sasuke decided that he would follow her and see where this budding friendship would take him. If his earlier reaction to her presence was any indication, then he knew, he would want to know why? Why, her presence alone caused such an intense reaction out of him. With those questions in mind, Sasuke grabbed the rest of his bags from the floor and followed right behind her.