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

Special Thanks: goes out to CrimsonNight41, Guest, Kia-B, Dani Stark, Kibachow, Sachiko Heiwajima, Tamani, Catastrophically-Me, wolf-enzeru, rao hyuga 18, mac 2, tactics2012, lems, and NeverInUrWildestDreams for all your wonderful reviews! Also thanks to everyone who's added this story to their favorites and alert lists - I love seeing new alerts in my e-box!

Author's Note: The part we've all been waiting for - their first encounter! This is the part of the story where the really exciting stuff starts, so I really hope you all enjoy it - and thansk for reading!

*~Chapter IV~*

~Glimpse~

Hinata wanted to put on the brakes and slow down the day. The hours were freight-training by, hurrying her along toward the inevitable dinner with her father and sister. She still had no idea what she was going to say or how she was going to react. All she knew: it wasn't going to be pretty. At all.

Tsunade had been in her office all day, presumably on the phone. She'd only appeared long enough to request Hinata bring something back for her for lunch, then went back. She'd looked pretty happy, so Hinata figured it must be good news on the other end of the line.

Really good news, considering she'd been on the phone for what seemed like several hours.

Slipping down another aisle, Hinata continued reshelving as she sighed and turned her mind back toward the rapidly approaching disaster in her near future. Her father had done some manipulative things in the past, but nothing quite this bad.

So much for Hinata's figuring moving out would get her out from beneath her father's thumb. The dominating reaches of his imagination and creativity apparently knew no bounds.

With a little more force than necessary, Hinata slapped a copy of Poe's collected works into place. Scowling at the darkly-bound cover, she thought about pulling it down again and checking it out herself. The morbid poet's work just about fit her mood right now.

At the front of the building, the door opened and closed. For a moment Hinata froze, getting flashbacks to the day before when Hanabi arrived with her bombshell. But she shook off her déjà vu moment and went to the end of the aisle to greet the patron.

There was no one there.

Hinata blinked, wondering if she'd just imagined the sound. For a moment she stared at the closed door in confusion, then shrugged and went back to her reshelving. If the person who came in wanted help, they'd come find her.

She rounded the corner and went down the next aisle, filling in slots by rote as she worried over how to get out of having Hanabi move in with her. She really did love her little sister, despite the age gap separating them. But having her living in such close proximity was something she hadn't missed.

Something dark flashed by in her peripheral vision. Hinata turned quickly, but the end of the aisle was empty. A little shiver ran up her spine, raising goosebumps on her skin. She wasn't staffing the library by herself - Tsunade was still in the office - and as usual there were a couple of teenagers on the comptuers. Suddenly, though, she felt very alone, and very vulnerable.

Wrapping her arms around her stomach, she slid her feet out of her shoes and walked silently down the aisle, mentally playing and replaying the numerous self-defense techniques Tenten had taught her over the years. Solar plexus, nose, knees, and groin are the best places to aim. Tensing her muscles, she slid forward a final step and peered around the shelving.

Nothing.

Hinata rubbed her eyes and looked again. Still nothing.

Was she going crazy?

Shaking her head, Hinata went back to her cart, but remained alert for anything else out of the ordinary. Granted, she hadn't gotten a great night's sleep thanks to turning her problems over and over in her mind, but she didn't think the lack of sleep was enough to warrant full-blown hallucinations - of both the visual and auditory varieties.

As she went around to the next aisle, she shot a glance over her shoulder. Both teenagers still sat hunched in front of their computers, and neither seemed particularly affected by anything. They were both in a good position to see the door, so they had to have seen whoever came in.

If someone came in.

Hinata shelved the last few books on her cart, then wheeled it back to the front desk. Tucking it back into place against the wall, she settled into her chair and checked the computer to make sure no holds had come in while she was away from the screen. When she noticed the readout was still at zero, she let out a sigh of relief and reached for her bottle of tea under the desk. Maybe the rest of the afternoon would be slow, and she could turn her full attention to the issue of her sister, father, and dinner with the pair of them.

Capping her bottle, Hinata returned it to its shelf and leaned back in her seat. Closing her eyes, she pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed loudly. I can't believe this is happening. What am I going to do? What am I going to say?

"Hinata!"

Startling so badly she nearly fell off her chair, Hinata grabbed the edge of the desk to balance herself as she spun to face Tsunade, who stood in the doorway to the hall which led to the back rooms and her office. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Tsunade threw up her hands in exultation and grinned widely. "Guess what just happened?"

Letting go of the desk, Hinata glanced around, halfway hoping a clue would present itself in the form of writing on the wall, or perhaps an open book with large print on the floor. When nothing magically appeared, she ventured, "What?"

Tsunade laughed and rubbed her hands together gleefully as she delivered the news. "Uchiha Sasuke has finally agreed to come to the library!"

Sasuke tensed when he heard his name invoked at the front of the building. Ducking his head and pulling the bill of his cap a little farther down over his eyes, he peeked to either side of himself to make sure he was still alone. If Senju Tsunade knew he was in her library at that very moment... Well, he didn't like to think of what would happen.

Reaching up to the top shelf, Sasuke pulled down another book to add to the stack cradled in his left arm. His laptop as well as a couple of notebooks rested inside the black messenger bag slung over his shoulder. He'd come prepared to do a ton of research, trying to time it in the library's slump hours, between one and five. He had about four hours in which to read and record.

Carrying his teetering stack of research material, he searched until he found a nice uninhabited, out-of-the-way corner and settled in. Tucking himself up against the wall so he was hidden by shelves at every angle but one, Sasuke booted up his laptop and reached for the book on the top of his stack.

His library card was years out of date; and besides that, he didn't want to have to talk to the woman at the front desk to check anything out. If he'd had his druthers, he wouldn't even have ventured out of his house to the library at all, but online research - and his own ample supply of research materials - could only get him so far. He hadn't had to go to the library in years, and he'd been hoping to avoid the trip this time.

But Jiraiya had urged him to get out of the house, try some new surroundings and see if it didn't spark something. Sasuke figured the library was as good a place as any, since it wasn't crowded and was filled to the brim with books - two of his favorite things.

If everything went all right today, he might even try to come back tomorrow. But only if he wasn't noticed - or, worse, recognized.

Sasuke had culled books on several different subjects during his search. He had everything from the supernatural to the unnatural, and he hoped somewhere under those covers would be the seed for his next novel.

It didn't even have to be a bestseller. It just needed to be good.

He kept one ear tuned in to his surroundings as he researched. A few times he typed down a few lines or even the beginnings of an image in his head, but nothing grabbed him, shook him, and demanded to be pursued. Truthfully, he felt rather like a very deep, very empty well.

At least his reading was interesting. He marked down several titles, authors, and ISBN numbers so he could purchase copies for his own collection, then moved on. But three hours passed with no good ideas, and Sasuke finally shut down his computer in disgust.

Tucking his laptop back into his bag, Sasuke gathered up the books and peeked around the corner to make sure no one was in his vicinity. When he determined the coast was clear, he slipped out of his hiding place and crept back to the aisle from which he'd gathered his books, then carefully returned each to its proper place.

Now all he had to do was get out without being seen. On near-silent feet, Sasuke slipped to the end of the aisle and peered around the bookshelf, his eyes darting from the computers - empty - to the front desk - also empty.

At least for the moment, the coast was clear. All he had to do was make it across the room and through the front doors without being seen. Then he could head around back of the building, get his car, and beat it back home before anyone noticed.

"Can I help you find something?"

Sasuke nearly fell face-first into the aisle. Grabbing the strap of his bag to protect his laptop, he spun around to face the source of the unexpected voice behind him, at the same time reaching up to make sure his hat stayed in place atop his head - and over his eyes.

Peeking out from beneath its brim, he got an eyeful of a colorful skirt; a fashionably (or so he presumed) baggy coordinating shirt; long dark hair; and wide, innocent lavender eyes. The woman stood only a few steps away, her small hands clasped together in front of her, head tilted slightly to the side at an inquisitive angle.

Run, now! The instinct screamed through his head as Sasuke quickly shook his head and took a rapid step back. "Uh - no, thanks. I was just leaving." Without waiting for a response, Sasuke pivoted on his heel and half-ran to the door. He shoved it open and stepped outside, drawing in a deep breath of the fresh air, the smothered feeling quickly creeping over him inside thankfully wisping away.

That was close. As he hurried around the side of the building, Sasuke pulled out his keys and hit the button for the keyless entry as he approached the sleek red vehicle - his one (rather ostentatious) weakness.

Sasuke didn't dare let himself breathe easily until he turned into his long, meandering driveway. Pulling his hat off, he tossed it onto the passenger seat and ran his hand through his messy black hair. He should have known when he didn't see the librarian in her chair that she'd gotten up to come after him.

The major question nagging at him: had she recognized him? He hadn't heard her shout his name as he fled, but he'd been so desperate he might not have.

Did he dare go back tomorrow? And what would he do when it came time for him to show up for the public appearance Jiraiya arranged for him?

As he rounded the last curve and the trees cleared, Sasuke groaned. A familiar orange clunker sat in the driveway in front of the house, with a blond figure propped comfortably against the front fender.

Sasuke briefly considered pulling a quick U-turn and driving off, but unfortunately Uzumaki Naruto had already noticed him. Visibly brightening, the annoying man pushed off his car and waved widely, grinning like an idiot.

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke hit the button for his garage door and pulled into its cool confines. Before he could hit the button again to lock Naruto out, the blond bounced up to the side of the car and reached for the door handle.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked as he opened the door.

"I brought dinner," Naruto said, holding up the sack in his left hand. "Mom made it special. I heard you needed some cheering up, so I came to do the job."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Who told you?"

"Shikamaru." Naruto followed Sasuke to the door leading from the garage into the house, then into the kitchen. "He said something about your newest book?"

What had Sasuke been thinking, telling Shikamaru about Checkmate's being rejected? He knew why - he'd needed to vent, and Shikamaru had been convenient since he'd called to check on how the security system he'd designed for the computer was doing. But still, he hadn't expected his friend to blab to Naruto, of all people. "What do you want to drink?" He sighed resignedly, knowing he wouldn't get rid of Naruto until the blond was good and ready to leave.

As he gathered up two glasses and got some ice from the freezer, he knew this was going to be a very long, very pointless night.

At least he was used to it. And it wasn't like it could get any worse, right?

*~To Be Continued~*

Author's Ending Notes: He ran away! But at least he's intrigued... I've been so excited to get to this chapter and share their first encounter with you all, because it sets off a chain of events that really gets their relationship going. I love all your reviews, and your observations and theories about what's going to happen in the story. Also, I want to send a huge shout-out to Renoa Heartilly, who drew an amazing fan poster for Entanglements and posted it on her tumblr, idontliveinatent. It captures the essence of Sasuke, Hinata, and their relationship in this story as it unfolds, and it's amazing. Please, go take a look - you can find a link to it in my profile! Thank you all so much for reading this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to see you again for next week's update!