Chapter 03

The sound of a bird's high pitched singing woke Hinata up, her eyes slowly opened.

The room was dimly lit by the sun... She forced herself up by pushing her elbows down on the bed to help elevate her. A sudden pain throbbed in her forehead, she gently rubbed the side of her head in comfort. Images flashed through her mind, images of a boy transforming into, a cat? It didn't make since, her eyebrows pulled close together in confusion.

"What a strange d-dream."

A voice was heard from the side of her bed, which made Hinata's skin jump.

"Hello again princess." The girl quickly turned her head to the source of the sound, she can feel her eyes widen at who she saw. It was Sasuke, the boy that appeared in her vision of the said dream. The boy was sitting down on the floor, his chin resting on his crossed arms that laid on the edge of her bed. A strange thought crept into her mind, has he been watching her the whole time she was out?

Hinata let the thought slip away and focused her attention on the boy again, that's when she noticed the clothes he was wearing. He was wearing her clothes? No, they weren't hers, they belonged to her Cousin, Neji, as well as her friend, Kiba.

Sasuke was wearing Kiba's red and white track sweat jacket that she distinctively remembered stowing somewhere in her closet last night before she treated his wounds. She also spotted her cousin's dark jogging pants that seemed to reach down to his toes. The clothes surprisingly fit the boy perfectly.

She eyed at her closet and saw the door slightly ajar, it was obvious at what the boy did. The fact that he went through her closet didn't affect her much, she was just glad that he was no longer bare. That and her closet were mostly filled with Neji's clothes since Hinata didn't find buying new outfits necessary. Sasuke caught her staring at the closet, "Sorry, I hope you don't mind me wearing your clothes for a while. I didn't mean to make you feel further uncomfortable around me. I hope that's alright."

Hinata was amazed at the guy's choice of words, she never expected a... well a guy to act so calm, composed, and at ease in this strange situation. She shook her head in deny, "N-no, no. It's okay." she waved both her hands, in protest. "By a-all means, please take th-them."

Sasuke gave a light nod to show his thanks at Hinata's words.

The Hyuuga's tense body slowly loosened at the sudden change of mood. It made her feel rather relaxed and unafraid of him compared to before. The little Hyuuga couldn't help but move her attention back to the boy's face, she began to examine Sasuke with her observant eyes.

The boy didn't seem too old, or too young. Hinata assumed that Sasuke was somewhere around her age. His hair was dark as night, yet his skin was so pale. Such features made him stood out even more,which made her cheeks unkowingly blush at such a thought. Her eyes then met with his, Sasuke's onyx like eyes glistened as she gazed into them, she couldn't stop staring at those beautiful orbs of his. It was as if he were hypnotizing her without even trying.

But there was something peculiar yet interesting about them, the girl couldn't really place what exactly was intriguing her. Hinata unintentionally leaned closer to the boy, it was as if his eyes were luring her in for a better look. For some reason, his eyes seems to be- "Is something wrong?"

Hinata was taken back to reality by the sound of his voice. Hinata blushed a shade of pink when she realized that she was in a close range with the boy. The Hyuuga quickly leaned back in half a heart beat. "N-n-nothing! S-sorry!" she said as she removed her gaze and lowered her head down, trying to hide her embarrassment.

He couldn't help but be amused by the girl's reaction at the simplest of things. The way she fidgeted, the way she blushed, the way she stuttered, and everything else seemed very foreign to him.

"U-umm."

He perked his ear to the sound of the girl's voice, it was barely audible, but his acute hearing picked it up.

"S-so... All that r-really happened, right?"

She asked while fiddling with her thumbs, it was a strange habit of hers whenever she felt nervous.

He nodded in response, "Yes." he said rather flatly.

Hinata's body turned to stone at the guy's answer. She was still not taking the whole 'truth' thing seriously, no rephrase that, she refused to believe such a thing. But how can she when the facts are right there in front of her?

M-maybe if I just pinch myself.

Hinata pinched the side of her face, she could feel the pain throbbing on her right cheek.

Okay... That settles it, I'm definitely not dreaming.

She rubbed her aching rosy cheek in comfort, believing that the action would help the pain go away. Hinata didn't want to admit it, but she wasn't dreaming. Nope, this was all real. No doubt about it...

This is crazy. A guy that can transform himself into a cat? That's just too weird to be true... Oh Mom, why is this happening to me?

"What is your, name?" Sasuke asked curiously, Hinata's train-of-thought came to a stop at the sound of his voice. She then quickly turned her head back to him.

"E-excuse me?"

"Your name?" he asked.

"O-oh...I'm sorry, my n-name is H-Hinata..." she stuttered out rather quietly.

Sasuke raised one brow up, "H-Hinata?"

She shook her head once again, "N-no no, Um just Hinata."

The boy repeated her name in confirmation, to which Hinata nodded at on her correction.

"Hinata... that's a nice name."

Hinata could feel her face heat up. "U-um, th-thank you?"

He nodded again, "You are welcome."

Hinata was struggling on what to say next, "Umm... you're n-name is Sasuke, right?" she uttered out quietly, hoping that she got the boy's name right. Sasuke's ears perked up when she said his name, the way she said it made him blush a bit. Only a little bit. He was glad that the girl remembered his name. Sasuke gave another light nod, "Yes that's right. I'm glad that, you remembered my name princess." Her body jolted at the word, her face reddened in embarrassment.

That word again? Why won't he stop c-calling me that?

To have a stranger call her a 'princess' is quite flattering, but the fact that this boy appeared naked at her bedside and almost showed his thing to her made her feel a thousand times more uncomfortable. She cleared her throat with a forced cough and tried her best to compose herself.

"Y-yes. Umm, as I was s-saying. why are you h-here? As in, why are you h-here in Konoha Sasuke?" Hinata bravely stuttered out.

The guy paused for a minute,

"Well, I was actually, running away… I think."

The answer was unexpected, this further deepened the girl's curiosity on the strange boy, "R-running away? F-from who?" she leaned a bit closer to the boy, wanting to get more information from him.

"Yes. I was, running away from these hounds"

Hounds? Does he mean Dogs?

"Y-you were running away from... hounds?" Hinata questioned, Sasuke gave another one of his catlike positive nods.

"Yes,they were this close to catching me." He stated nonchalantly.

Hinata looked back down at those cursed bandages that were wrapped around Sasuke's arm. Her heart once again felt pain...

"These 'hounds'... So they were th-the ones that did a-all this to you?" Her sentence kind of shot through Sasuke, he detected the worry in both her tone and eyes. He buried his face deeper into his other arm to hide the lower half of his face, his fingers unintentionally gripping the fabric of the sport's jacket. Her concern over the little wounds bothered him a bit, and the expression that she held got him tense. He's not used to this sudden attention.

"Don't worry. I heal rather quickly." He mumbled under his arms, his eyes then looked down at the bandages that were wrapped around his arms, "I will be fine."

The girl shook her head from side to side in deny, she reached out with her hand and gently laid it on his bandaged arm, "N-nonsense, you had many wounds and d-deep cuts on your body. It's i-impossible for wounds like those to heal that f-fast."

The little Hyuuga gently pulled his right arm and placed it on top of her lap and took a hold of the end of the bandage, while her other hand held the boy's to help make the removal easier. Hinata tugged away the long white strip gently, trying her best not to ruin or worsen the wound. But, after she completely removed the bandage, there was nothing there... She found no wounds, no cuts, no bruises. nothing.

"Wait. What h-happened?" She gently traced Sasuke's arm, only to feel the smoothness of his skin "W-where did they-"

"Like I said, I heal quickly." He restated.

"B-but… how?" she questioned, and he shrugged.

"It's always been like this." he said with his eyes fixed down on his bare arm, "It always has been… because, I'm-"

Snap! Crack! Snap! Crack!

The dark figure crushed the poor dog's neck with its foot, the dog struggled desperately under him. The beast's forearms wiggled while its hind legs kicked furiously, trying it's best to escape. But it was too late... With one last pressure of the foot, life quickly faded away from the hound's eyes.

The killer lifted his foot off of the mutt's back, no satisfaction was written on the murderer's face. Not victory, nor triumph, not even pain... an emotionless killing machine. But that killing machine was just a mere little boy named Sasuke. His body glimmered under the dim light, the boy's bare chest was covered with the blood of the canine. Back was hunched low, killer eye's still fixed down at the dog's dead body, tensed muscles slowly eased as the adrenaline faded away from his whole body.

The boy's mind finally took control, his glowing maroon iris slowly melted into a dark onyx color... His hands began to quake as realization hit him. The boy bit harshly onto his lips in order to keep himself from puking on the ground.

The sound of applause echoed the room, "My Sasuke... you've done very well." said the tall man with a wide, Cheshire like smile on his face. "I see that you've excelled quite beautifully over a small amount of time..." The older man slowly circled around Sasuke while humming a happy tune, "As expected from you, and my have you've grown." He stopped at Sasuke's right side, his smile widen even more, "You truly are an amazing creature, don't you agree?"

His happy humming came to a stop, he expected an answer from the boy, but received none. He frowned in disappoint, similar to that of a child who didn't receive a toy. The man tilted his head down to Sasuke, "I think you need to work on your social skills a little more, my dear boy." The man let out a cold chuckle, "You really have changed into something Sasuke... You really have." He ruffled up the boy's spiky hair.

Sasuke found himself bitting the insides of his lips without his consent, he felt his head throbbing immensely.

"S-sasuke... what's wrong?" Sasuke snapped out of his daze and slowly looked up to the Hyuuga's face.

"What do you mean?" he managed to speak without showing her his bruised lips.

Hinata tilted her head a bit. "You looked hurt at that time. When you m-mentioned about your wounds healing...?"

Again with that weird look on her face

Sasuke stayed silent again, Hinata's grip from her hands tightened a bit on his palms, "Sasuke, what is it?" The boy felt couldn't quit say what it was that bothered him. But it disturbed him greatly, the visions, the voice of a man haunting his mind. Her snow white eyes begged for answers, the boy could see the innocence and kindness in them. Sasuke felt a sharp sting in his chest.

Stop it already.

With one quick motion, he grabbed hold of the girl's hand without warning.

A gasp escaped from the Hyuuga's lips, Sasuke gently brought her hand down to the side of his face, not paying any attention at her stuttering. The girl tried her best to wiggle her hand free, but she was too flustered to even react.

"Hinata..." he mumbled, the Hyuuga could feel his breath tickling her left palm. Sasuke closed his eyes as he inhaled the scent of her hand, the smell of it was so, captivating. He then rubbed his cheek against her palm, the texture of it felt so soft... Sasuke never felt anything as gentle as this before. Sure the bed was comfy and all, but it was nothing compared to this.

"Why? Why care for such a thing?" He asked huskily under his breath.

Hinata stood still, eyes locked down at her hand, then at him. "Sasuke?"

The sound of the birds twittering came to a stop, everything fell silent.

to be continued...

Herro my fellow readers.

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