A/N: I was planning to put this update off until next week, but I got a review today that mentioned chocolate sprinkles... :) I'm sorry for the (over a) month long delay, but real life has been awful. Don't expect constant updates from me, but I will finish this story even if it kills me.

I appreciate the kind words you've still been sending, even though I haven't found time to reply personally. And without further ado...

Chapter Five: Suspicions

Hinata woke five minutes before her alarm clock was set to shrill, once again falling into the routine she'd adopted over the past week of shooting. Blinking sleepily, she smoothed out the wrinkles on her bedsheets and let her feet take her to her sitting room. She spent a quiet fifteen minutes moving through familiar steps of exercise, allowing her body to relax while her mind skimmed through lines for upcoming scenes.

A trip to the bathroom was followed by a change into a neat, not at all ostentatious, outfit. She hurried to the front door, perfectly on schedule, and had barely a moment to mull over how comforting routines could be before it was abruptly halted.

Hinata froze at the entrance to her home with one hand on the doorknob and the other clutching a bright red apple. The envelope she was currently entranced by fluttered slightly in the morning breeze, but did not escape the weight of her foot.

It was only after the grey-haired limousine driver approached her with some concern that she forced herself back to reality.

'I'm fine, thank you,' she said in reply to the man's questions. She gave him a smile she could barely manage and stooped quickly to grab the envelope. She followed him to the idling car and ducked inside, abandoning her apple in favour of the more interesting object in her possession.

The envelope was plain white, and bore only her name on the front, a spiky scrawl. With some trepidation, she ripped it open and pulled out a piece of paper, which held just three words: Found you, Hyuuga.

x . o . x . o . x . o . x

'Hinata, you don't seem like yourself today,' Shizune said, imitating the younger woman's slower pace as they departed the set for lunch. 'Is something wrong?'

Biting her lip in uncertainty, Hinata allowed Shizune to walk beside her in silence until they reached the lunchroom. She picked her meal without much thought and waited until Shizune had sat beside her before speaking.

'This morning I found a letter on my doorstep.'

'Yes?' Shizune pressed, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

'Well- It's just very creepy. Wait, I'll show you.'

Hinata presented the note to Shizune, who studied it carefully with an inscrutable expression.

'It's just a joke, I'm sure. Don't worry about it, Hinata.'

'But why go to so much effort to play a prank on me?' Hinata asked, in a desperate kind of whisper. 'Shizune, I moved house only a month ago, I'm not listed in the phone book and I make sure no one beyond my family and friends know my address.'

Shizune seemed more than a little worried after Hinata's revelation, although her tone indicated she was attempting to stay positive.

'You're a famous actress, Hinata. There will be people motivated enough to find it.'

'I hope it is just a joke.' Hinata toyed with the corner of her sandwich's plastic wrap. 'I've never had anything like this happen before.'

'Anything like what?' Sakura breezed in, smiling cheerfully at both women.

Hinata was surprised and pleased to see Sakura's recent pleasant behaviour towards her was still holding. She'd expected bitter remarks and scowls to be thrown her way after the Curiosity incident, but instead, Sakura had been friendlier than ever.

The pink-haired woman spotted the note still lying on the table and shook her head.

'Oh, don't worry about those things,' she said, stabbing her fork into her salad. She waved a slice of tomato around carelessly. 'I've gotten them before and it's usually just idiots who like messing with people's heads.'

Comforted by Sakura's attitude, Hinata dropped the note back into her bag and was about to begin her lunch with a renewed appetite when Naruto dropped in.

'Kakashi hates me,' he sulked, piling his plate high with almost everything available and sitting beside Shizune. He gulped down a mouthful of rice. 'I've read through my lines for the next scene about five times and he's just told me he wants me to do it again.'

'That slow, monotonous tone you speak in would make anyone hate you.' Looking irritable, Sasuke completed their group by dropping down next to Hinata with a more modest-sized lunch. 'As it was, I nearly decided to choke Kakashi myself for suggesting you go through the scene again.'

Hinata glanced at Naruto's lunch, contemplating the idea of replacing her sandwiches with one of the dishes he'd chosen when something caught her eye.

'Naruto, what's that on your plate? It looks like something wriggling…'

Shizune and Naruto leaned forward with her to inspect the white rice covering half the plate, but it was Shizune who realised what lay among the grains first.

'Maggots!' she gasped, scooting backwards with an almost comical speed. Her own plate held an as yet untouched serving of rice and she pushed it away with a shudder. 'How is that possible? Nothing has been left uncovered and our caterers are the best!'

'Obviously not,' Sasuke said, calmly shoving his own meal away. 'Otherwise maggots wouldn't be on the menu, would they?'

Naruto was downing several bottles of juice with his face contorted in disgust, as though he could taste the critters.

'Um, Shizune?' Sakura spoke up softly. She was staring at her salad with a terrified expression, having been seemingly oblivious to the ensuing drama around her. 'Are there peanuts in this?'

'No, we never order anything containing peanuts… But you're allergic to them, aren't you?'

'Yes, I am,' Sakura said, lifting her head to reveal the red patches breaking out on her face. 'And I think this has peanuts in it.'

x . o . x . o . x . o . x

'I don't understand how this happened.' Tsunade stared broodingly at the abandoned salad. 'We specifically ask for care regarding nuts, because besides Miss Haruno, there are a few crew members with a nut allergy.'

'Well, they don't seem to be able to claim any rewards for reliability,' Sasuke said.

'This is a disaster,' Tsunade muttered, still looking at the meal. 'I hope Miss Haruno isn't too severely affected.'

'Disaster it is, Tsunade,' Sasuke agreed easily. 'This production seems to be facing quite a few disasters, hmm?'

Tsunade turned slowly to face Sasuke and Shizune and Hinata watched as the blonde woman positively sparked with a quiet fury at Sasuke's tone.

'Exactly what are you insinuating, Mr Uchiha?' she asked, very coldly.

Sasuke stood his ground, his arms folded as casually as though he was merely observing a spontaneous soccer game between children.

'You know as well as I do, Tsunade, that there have been too many unfortunate incidents since filming began for anyone with half a brain to believe are simply accidents.'

Tsunade didn't reply; merely glared.

'I think that sabotage fits perfectly with what's been happening.'

'What are you talking about, Mr Uchiha?' Tsunade snapped. '"Sabotage?" We've had one incident on set and a case of negligence in food preparation. I regret both, of course, but "sabotage"…'

She left her sentence hanging and took a moment to breathe deeply, letting her harsh glare smooth out into her usual neutral expression.

'I'm going to make a call to our caterers and find out how Miss Haruno is doing. I'd like the food cleared away by the time I've returned, Shizune. We can't risk anyone else unknowingly eating maggots or peanuts.'

'Please forgive her,' Shizune said anxiously, watching Tsunade storm away. 'She's under a lot of strain.'

'Do you think there's been sabotage, Shizune?' Sasuke asked quietly as Hinata looked on with just as much interest as he was showing.

Something in Shizune's face seemed to tighten and an odd blankness came over it.

'I don't believe 'sabotage' is the right word for a few unfortunate incidents,' Shizune answered, echoing Tsunade's negative answer. She hovered on the spot briefly, looking indecisive. 'I'd better have someone take care of this.'

When she'd gone, Sasuke turned idly to Hinata and said,

'Think she's hiding something?'

'No…' Hinata said, albeit slightly hesitantly. 'Shizune isn't that sort of person.'

Sasuke regarded her for a moment with an expression of half-exasperation and half-amusement.

'You're too trusting, Hinata,' he sighed. 'We'd better find out what should be done now before Kakashi has time to start reading.'

Kakashi was indeed at the point of reaching into his jacket pocket for something when the pair reached him. The man looked at them for a moment before making a show of searching for Naruto and Sakura.

'Well, I know why Sakura's not here,' he said after he'd finished, with only a faint smile from Hinata. 'But where'd Naruto go?'

'He went with Sakura to the hospital,' Hinata told him.

'Ah, I see,' Kakashi muttered. 'Young love…'

He flicked through his copy of the script.

'That puts us in a bind, since a scene featuring you and Naruto' - he glanced at Sasuke- 'Was scheduled. Never mind; we'll go with a Mira and Nori scene then, shall we?'

'How do we do that without the appropriate sets?' Sasuke questioned.

'The crew is very efficient, Sasuke. I think we'll try the café scene for now, since it was only scheduled for tomorrow. You both know the lines already, correct?'

Hinata and Sasuke murmured their assent.

'Good,' Kakashi said, giving them a nod of approval. 'I'll see someone about the sets, while you have wardrobe take care of you.'

The wardrobe department was becoming just as adept to changes as the equipment crew was. Satomi transformed Hinata into Mira quite speedily, expressing her concern for Sakura as she did so. The news had apparently spread through the crew like wildfire.

'I do hope she's all right,' Satomi said, sliding a final hairpin over Hinata's left ear. 'I know how awful having those types of allergies can be; my poor niece is lactose intolerant…'

Kakashi had fulfilled his promise to have the sets up and ready for their scene by the time Hinata arrived. Hinata privately thought the feat wasn't quite what Kakashi made it out to be, considering they were previously used in the 'Nori, Mira, Kasumi and Katsu in café' scene, but she did give him credit for rustling up a sufficient number of extras, despite very few having been called in that day.

'We'll have Nori and Mira at this table then,' Kakashi ordered, ushering the two actors onto the set. 'And move that ridiculous elephant jar- who put that there?'

A harried-looking assistant rushed to do his bidding and raced off with the little elephant that had ears rivalling Dumbo's.

'All right… Quiet on set…Action.'

x . o . x . o . x . o . x

'You don't like talking, do you?' Nori asked gently, peering at Mira over his cup.

'The past ten minutes of silence have told you that much, huh?' Mira replied wryly, meeting her companion's gaze only very briefly. She looked towards the window, which offered a fairly stale view. 'I'm not a big talker at the best of times, and you're practically a stranger…'

'I don't have to be,' Nori said, leaning back and stirring his coffee thoughtfully. 'But I understand.'

The cell phone in Mira's stylish, but practical, handbag rang then, and she stood with a half-apologetic smile.

'I'll just take this, okay?'

She ducked into the tiny restroom of the store and answered the call aggressively, instantly slipping into the real Mira.

'Are you insane, calling me when I'm on a job?' she snapped, strolling past the two cubicles and nudging them open to check no one was eavesdropping. 'I'll make sure the boss finds out about this.'

She paused, listening to the words that the audience would not hear.

'Oh, you have a good reason, now?' she asked, sneering to herself. 'That's a new one. You never have good reasons for anything.'

The phone call continued only for thirty seconds more, with the unseen caller chattering on and Mira giving the occasional 'uh-huh.'

'Fine, but I've gotta go now. He'll be waiting for me.' She paused to listen again. 'Yeah, he's great if you like the do-gooder type. I don't.'

She snapped the phone close and re-entered the café where Nori sat patiently.

'I'm sorry about that…'

x . o . x . o . x . o . x

Naruto called later on to inform everyone Sakura had had a relatively mild reaction to the peanuts and sustained no long-lasting damage. By that time, the cast and crew were packing up for the day and Shizune told Naruto to head home, despite Kakashi's insistence he return to the set for further line revision.

Hinata remained for a cup of tea, as Shizune had obligingly ordered a stronger type at Hinata's request. She listened as the studios began to quieten down and was just about to make her own way home when Sasuke entered.

'Oh, you're still here?' he asked, before noticing her half-standing position. 'Don't let me stop you from leaving.'

Hinata didn't. She'd reached the door before she saw the note in the doorway.

'Is this yours?' she asked, unfolding it as she spoke. 'I-'

It was a note similar to the one she'd received in the morning, with computer-typed words and plain white paper, only this one read: Beware of dark alleyways, Sasuke.

'You got one too?' Hinata asked, just as he grabbed it from her angrily.

Sasuke frowned.

'I did… This morning. When did you-?'

'The same.' She returned to her seat and rummaged through her bag again. 'Here.'

As she watched him examine it, Hinata ventured,

'Sakura said she receives these all the time, and they aren't anything to worry about…'

Sasuke tossed her note back abruptly.

'Well, she's wrong. These aren't your typical crazy fan letters. Trust me, I've had enough to know the difference.'

'But-'

'Listen, Hinata,' Sasuke said suddenly, with a frightening urgency in his voice. 'These notes are the reason I think this production's being sabotaged. I've had three now, and one of them made direct reference to this film and warned me I was 'playing a dangerous game' by being here.'

'Shouldn't we-?'

'We haven't got anything concrete for the police yet, Hinata. They've even seemed to have given up on that attack on you.' Sasuke looked defeated. 'And I've already thrown away the first note regarding the film. I thought it was a joke at first, too.'

'I don't understand why anyone would want to sabotage a film production.'

'Money, Hinata. I would venture to say that's the case here.'

Hinata twisted her note in her hands, feeling a blossoming of fear in her stomach as she recalled telling Shizune how much effort finding her address would have been. Sasuke looked terribly serious as he surveyed her.

'All right,' Hinata finally said, swallowing her worry and standing up. 'Thank you, Sasuke.'

She accepted his offer of walking her to her car, grateful for his presence outside where every shadow seemed to conceal an enemy.

'Stay alert,' Sasuke warned her, pushing the door close after she'd scrambled inside.

When the car began moving, she sank back and thought perhaps this movie was more trouble than it was worth.

A/N: All is not as it seems... On another note, the 'maggots in the rice' idea was initially supposed to involve Sakura, but I decided not since she was so cruelly mocked in the previous chapter. Also, 'maggots in the rice' was inspired by a true event involving a friend of mine... Maggots in packaged, store-bought, never-been-opened rice cakes. Beware what you eat.