Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto! I do not get any profit from this fiction. I only write for fun and to improve my creativity.

Chapter Three

Destiny is a good thing to accept

When it's going your way

When it isn't, don't call it destiny;

Call it injustice, treachery, or simple bad luck

Joseph Heller

…

The young inn keeper was a small woman with dark brown hair and honey eyes. The young woman was friendly and polite, but perhaps too talkative for Hinata's liking. In a matter of a couple minute, she had inquired about five different topics and all of them too personal to answer. Hinata was becoming uncomfortable with every passing minute. Why were women so talkative and prone to gossip? Hinata had never being the kind of girl to gossip or question other people's life. It was not something she cared about. She concluded that if she liked to keep her life private, so did others. Therefore, the young woman's interrogation was starting to bother her.

After giving Hinata the keys to her room, the young woman offered to take Hinata to the room. Hinata had wanted to decline, but she didn't want to be rude, so she allowed the young woman to walk her to the room. Hinata had requested for a room with a private bathroom. The only room with a bathroom was surprisingly available, and for that Hinata was grateful. After spending five days in the woods, she wanted to take a proper shower and privately. The young woman informed her that dinner would be ready in an hour if she desired to eat something before resting and breakfast was served at 9 in the morning. After bowing in appreciation, Hinata closed the door without saying a word to the woman to prevent another round of uncomfortable questions. Hinata decided she would skip dinner tonight, opting for going to bed early.

Ever since she left after her mission, she had been trying to keep a good distance from Konoha. She knew that once they discovered she wasn't coming back to the village they would send a search team after her. She had done everything she could to cover her tracks, but she knew Kiba and Shino would be able to discover them in little time, and it was certain they would be the ones the Hokage sent to search for her. After all, they were her teammates, the only ones to know her well.

Therefore, she covered long distances for hours during the day with very little rest. She never failed to cover her tracks carefully, and slept less than five hours at night. But tonight, she would indulge herself and sleep for more than hours than was normal. Yes, she would definitely rest well tonight.

Uchiha Sasuke didn't like the young inn keeper. The young woman might be polite, but her blatant flirtatious ways were making him uneasy. One would think Sasuke would be used to women throwing themselves at him by now, but the truth was that it always bothered him. It's not like he initiated conversation or gave them reasons to flirt with him. He always blatantly ignored them, but they never seemed to understand his uninterest.

"The only room with a bathroom was rented two hours ago." She had said. "But you are always welcome to come stay with me. My room has a private bathroom and a small kitchen" She blushed a little and gave him a sweet smile. "And you don't have to pay a thing."

"No. I'll rent another room."

"Very well then." She had said a little disappointed.

After paying the fare for the room he declined her offer to take him to his room. He took his leave and settled in his room, cursing whoever had rented the private room before him. He then headed to the common bathrooms to clean up. They were empty, and he thanked the gods for that. Not trusting the inn keeper, Sasuke casted a set of genjutsu, in case she had the idea to spy on him. After a long shower, he headed back to his room, and after inspecting his bedroom for possible fangirls or rogue ninja's looking for his head, he settled in bed to rest for the night. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep for long, so whatever time he could get he'd be satisfied with it.

"Did you find anything Shino?" Kiba asked his friend.

"It seems she tried to cover her tracks." The stoic shinobi answered.

"Can we uncover them?" Kiba asked.

"It'll take time, but yes."

"How troublesome." Shikamaru had been sitting under a tree while his friends did the job. He was too lazy for that, and besides, that wasn't his area of expertise.

After the Sixth Hokage had informed them about Hinata's disappearance, they set out to search for her. They had been tracking her for a day and they had found very little information about her whereabouts. The best they had discovered was Hinata's attempt to cover her tracks. There was no doubt she had improved her skills. Shikamaru expected the team would be able to track her easily. Yet, it was becoming harder than he expected, which only meant it would be a 'troublesome' mission.

"This is Naruto's fault!" Kiba suddenly said becoming agitated. "If he would have done something, instead of pretending he didn't remember Hinata's confession, she wouldn't be gone."

They knew Naruto had been avoiding the "confession" for years. When they had asked him why he didn't give Hinata an answer Naruto had said he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Apparently, he thought that by keeping silent he would spare her more suffering, but it was doing the complete opposite. Shino and Kiba had noticed how their friend became more withdrawn and depressed throughout the years that followed after the war. They knew she was hurting, but they couldn't do anything about it. Kiba had tried to convince Naruto by means of violence to tell Hinata how he felt and give her an answer, but he failed miserably. The blond refuse to do it.

"Blaming Naruto won't bring Hinata back." concluded Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru is right." Shino agreed. "Let's get to work."

Kiba scolded at his friends but returned to the task at hands. After all, they were right, their priority was to find Hinata.

Uchiha Sasuke was never taken by surprise. Very little things caused him curiosity, so when he saw the woman sitting a few tables from him, he didn't think much of it. That was until something made her glance to his general direction and he was able to see those pale lavender eyes. He knew those eyes; he had seen them during the years he lived in Konoha. Those were the eyes of the Hyūgas.

The second time she glanced to his general direction, he not only confirmed she was indeed a Hyūga, but she was definitely a member of the main house. And if his memory didn't fail him, she was the heiress of the Hyūga clan, no other than Hyūga Hinata. He had seen her during his academy years when he lived in Konoha. She was a shy girl with absolutely no self-confidence. However, he mostly remembered seeing her after the war ended. Particularly in the hospital, helping Sakura with patients and other responsibilities. The first time had been when she came over to his room to bring him his medicines. He remembered she hadn't said a word, in fact, she didn't seem particularly interested in him like the majority of the Konoha female population. The next couple of times were after he was released from the hospital and placed in house arrest. She had volunteer to bring food for him a couple of times. She never said more than two words, and he didn't care to make conversation with her. However, none of that knowledge explained what the heiress of the Hyūga clan was doing here, in casual attire, enjoying breakfast while looking out the window without a care in the world.

It's not that shinobis weren't allowed to go on vacations if they so wished for, but members of prestigious clans did not travel alone. For as long as he had been watching her, he hadn't seen anyone with her. For the entire time she sat there, he had been looking around for any leaf shinobi, but no one ever came to join her.

To say that Sasuke was confused was an understatement. He honestly couldn't see why the heiress of the most prestigious clan in Konoha was doing here in this insignificant little village, on what seemed like a vacation of some sort. Was she on a solo mission? Did she come here as a Konoha representative? And if so why? None of it made sense because this village had nothing interesting to offer Konoha, and they surely did not need assistance from the village of the Hidden Leaf. Luckily, this village was one on the few that didn't suffer repercussions after the war. The more he pondered on the situation the more lost he felt. Nothing was normal or acceptable unless… unless she had run away. But why? What could make the heiress of the Hyūga clan want to run away from Konoha? What had she done? If she had done anything at all. There was only one way to find out, and though he didn't like it, he couldn't think of another way. He needed to make sure the village was safe. He had to do this, not for himself nor Konoha, but for his brother. For Itachi he would do it.

Finishing his tea, Sasuke placed a few coins on the table to pay for his breakfast, and followed the Hyūga girl outside the inn into the village town. He kept a safe distance at all time, masking his chakra and hiding in the shadows. He couldn't risk being seen, one slip and the Byakugan princess would be able to see him. He didn't know the Hyūga girl personally, but he knew who she was. She had been in the Academy with him when he was little, and she was part of the rookie nine. She had qualified for the chunin exams the same year as him, just like her cousin Hyūga Neji. She might not be the strongest out of the rookie 9, but she was certainly a skillful shinobi. She had to be one if she was a jounin, and he knew she had been promoted to jounin after the war. The dobe had told him on one occasion. In fact, if he remembered well, he believed she had a huge crush on Naruto. He had seen her turning red like ripe tomato on several occasions and always after seeing the dobe. Yet, she was here, enjoying a stroll to town and taking in the scenery like a tourist.

Women are ridiculous.

After following the Hyūga heiress around town for two hours, while she did her little shopping and enjoyed the view, Sasuke found himself following her to the inn. He concluded that the heiress was not here on a mission. That was easy to see, she was not only alone, but while she did her little shopping she took her sweet time. And although, she had her guard up, it seemed as if she was scared and hiding from someone. This knowledge lead him to take a new step.

Stepping inside the shower, Hinata allowed the warm water to fall on her naked body. It felt comforting, and she made sure to enjoy it knowing too well this might be the last time in a long while she would be able to indulge in something as simple as a hot shower. After cleaning up she got dressed and ate a bento box for lunch. She then, proceeded to do the check out and continued her journey to the next village.

Hinata travelled at fast speed. Her senses were always on high alert, and she found herself using her blood line in more than one occasion, just to make sure she wasn't being followed by anyone. She hadn't seen anything suspicious, but she was certain the Sixth Hokage would send a search team to track her. If that was the case, she had to hurry up before they caught up to her. She was sure her teammates would be part of it, and Kiba and Shino were not just good trackers; they were much faster than her.

I'm sorry Shino-kun, Kiba-kun. I wish things were different.

He was officially losing his mind. There was no logical explanation for what he was doing. He had been following the Hyūga heiress for a whole day now, and though he hadn't seen anything abnormal yet, he noticed she was on high alert. Always checking for threats and possible pursuers. In more than one occasion, Sasuke had to hide among the trees because she would constantly use her byakugan to check her surroundings. Those seeing eyes wouldn't miss him for a bit if he made a wrong move, so he kept a larger distance and hid among the shadows.

The day before, he had sent Naruto a note requesting information about Hinata, without giving information on their whereabouts. He had thought about sending it to Kakashi, but he opted not to. If nothing was abnormal with the Hyūga's little trip to the small insignificant village, he didn't want his former sensei to think he was interested in the heiress. Knowing that pervert, that was what he'd most likely think of first. So he had sent it to Naruto, and hoped he was discreet.

The things you are making me do, Hyūga.

Author's Note: Hello! Once again, thank you for your kind reviews and your support. They make me happy!

I updated a day before because I won't be able to update if I don't do it now. I will be spending time with family and helping my aunt and mother to get everything set up for New Year's Eve. So yay! You got this chapter a day before lol.

This chapter was a little harder to write. I remember rewriting it at least two times, before I settled for this version. I'm not super happy about it, but I like it. It is a little fast passed because I honestly didn't feel like dragging their encounter. I think I've covered most of what needs to be covered for the development of the story.

Writing Sasuke is the hardest thing I've ever done, and in all honesty, that's why it took me so long writing a SasuHina fic. So please, if you find him ooc, let me know. I appreciate constructive criticism.

Answer to reviews:

Psycho-schlemiel: Hi! Wow, thank you so much for reading my story! I feel honored you decided to give this fic a chance (especially when you're not really a SasuHina fan), and that you liked it so far. I hope I don't disappoint. I try to portray the characters as realistic to their personalities as I can. But feel free to call me out if you feel like I'm not doing a good job at it.

Munchiedi: Ah! Thank you! I am so happy you like it so far. The prologue takes place in the future. So that one scene hasn't happened yet, but it will happen. You will understand how he was able to retrieve her after this chapter.

DAngel7: Thank you! I'm so happy you are liking this story. You will understand what's happening very soon. In fact, this chapter should give you an idea of what route this story will take.

See you next week!