Blurry Perception

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After a mission gone wrong, Hinata found herself alone, injured and without her memories. When she found someone who knows who she is, she latches onto him. Too bad she doesn't remember he's a wanted missing-nin by the name of Uchiha Sasuke.

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Chapter 3: Dubious Windfall… or was it?

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Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.
~ C. S. Lewis

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"Hokage-sama."

"Don't call me that, you know I'm not here on my own free will."

Hinata didn't offer any kind of response to that treasonous statement so he supported his cocked head on the heel of his wrist and studied the silent female in front of him. His apathetic features didn't change saved for a quirk of his brow.

She took that as a permission to go on, so she steeled her spine and forged ahead. "I need you to grant me a solo mission."

"And why is that?" The man pondered at the wording of her request.

She presses her lips together, afraid that the emotion bubbling up will somehow erupt and drenched them both with its intensity. The pain of losing her cousin had not fully manifested until now. She had been too busy trying to dodge Death's summon to mourn properly, the frequent adrenaline rush had overshadow the pain of lost.

The very second she had an idle moment, everything came crushing back and unlike the ocean's wave, the pain never receded. The continuous crashing of anger and guilt had drained her. Every face she met on the street was a testament that her cousin didn't survive, when she did. He had thrown his own life aside to save hers and for someone who always put other people's interest ahead of her own, she could not deal with it.

There was a part of her that wanted to ask the Acting Hokage to push her to the start of the line for the Grief Management sessions he had made compulsory for all Fourth War's survivors but since almost all of the shinobi population were affected by the last Great War, the line was a long one. Then there's that tiny voice that whispered incessantly that there must be someone else who needs the session more than her wins the argument.

Therefore, some time alone to sort out her tumultuous thoughts seemed imminent.

"Please Hokage-sama," she implored the man, hands clasped tightly in front of her. Habit made her dipped her head down but when she caught herself doing it, she straightened instantly, locking her eyes with the Acting Sixth's inquisitive stare. With a start, she realized that he looked like he'd aged 5 years in the weeks he had been persuaded to take up office.

Post-war Konoha was a mere shadow of its glorious hey-day. The body count from the Fourth War had been staggering, the life and skills that had been wiped out from Konoha especially will take years to replace. And when the time came to find the replacement for the fallen Fifth, all eyes turned to the most obvious choice for their new leader. One of the hero, a half of the duo that sealed the Juubi but none of them could've guessed his response to the offer of Hokage-ship.

He had declined.

The same Uzumaki Naruto who had shouted to anyone who wanted to listen (and even those who didn't) from the time he was old enough to run of his desire to take the helm of the village, he had refused when it was offered to him on a silver platter.

He told the Council there's no way he would be able to shoulder the responsibility of being the Sixth Hokage until he's able to retrieve his teammate back to the village. The one who had fought beside him as they gambled with their lives to put the monster away, the same one who went missing hours after they succeeded. Naruto refused to believe his teammate, his friend, his brother would simply leave and disappear on his own accord without provocation and he would do anything to find him again. He had done it once, he would do it again because before the Uchiha was back in Konoha, there was no way he would accept. If he can't save Sasuke, he had doubt that he could keep an entire village safe.

With the blond being adamant on that one clause, the Council scrambled to find ways around it but the Uzumaki was tenaciously stubborn. After a long drawn out negotiation (temper-filled fest with screams and the occasional books thrown against the wall), the Council conceded to fill the spot of Konoha's head with another candidate. After all, the last time Naruto tried to look for Sasuke, it took him almost five years to do so and Konoha cannot be without a leader for the next five years.

For some reason or another, they pounced on him. Before he could say no and decline politely, they gave a long winding speech about his loyalty to his village and what will Konoha do when the Hokage candidate was off running after a missing-nin who doesn't want to be found. After another long arduous negotiation (that borders on blackmail), they both agree on the terms that he'll be only taking the reign as Acting Hokage and will immediately give it up the minute Uchiha Sasuke returned to Konoha.

She didn't know what he could see playing across her face, the Acting Sixth kept studying her and she kept repressing the urge to fidget when the man sighed and turned, ruffling through the mission scrolls piled high on his desk.

"You're in luck, Hyuuga. This is what I need you to do."

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She opens her eyes to find she is surrounded in inky darkness. Panic shoves past common sense and she would have bolts upwards if it wasn't for the pain that shoots from her left side. She gasps and suddenly the black veil lifts. Again, her vision sharpens and widens, bathing her surrounding in an eerie silver glow.

Hinata, she dimly recalls her own name, shuffles to the wall of the cave, having determined her current whereabouts; instinctively putting her unwatched back against a solid wall of rock. Her former obsession resurfaces and she hurriedly scans her immediate vicinity for potential threats. Her fingers twitches for her weapon, anything she can use to hold off intruders and her cold hand pats through the unfamiliar shirt before they tightens on a hilt of a kunai.

She stiffens, her sweaty limbs unmoving when she spots a blob of shining twisted threads resting by the mouth of the cave. Which she somehow aware belongs to a person. The way he is positions, he is directly cutting off her only escape route to safety. An enemy? But why is he not making any move? Is he… sleeping? Does that man she is captured and he is a guard of some sort?

A flash of lightning streaks across the sky and Hinata's erratic breathing pattern skitters when the sudden burst of light overlays the dark haired man's face over the meandering of glowing pathways. All right, not an enemy then. Hinata feels her fear cools down to a simmer but she still continues to scan for threats.

After spending the last few days dodging various attempts on her life with the worse handicap ever, no memory, so that she can't even distinguished foe from friends, she had develop a skyrocketing level of paranoia. He is the only one she comes across that doesn't try to kill her on sight and seems to know more about herself than well, herself.

Hinata gulps when she realizes she could see past their cave, way beyond it actually, as her vision stretches across forests and streams. The scene looks like it has been drawn on sheer transparent paper and she could actually see through each object. Which is totally awesome.

Does that mean she has some kind of super power? Is that the reason she is being hunted down?

The sudden rush of adrenaline makes her heart pump much harder, pushing much needed blood throughout her body and Hinata purposely tries pushing the strange sight even further.

As if being shaken out of stupor, her muscles quickly adapts to the change, pumping chakra instinctively into her eyes and the surrounding races past her. Her fear of the unknown dissipates when she focuses her attention, unconsciously seeking for living human beings as oppose to trees and animals.

She gasps, a quick intake of air, when she sees numerous silhouettes approaching fast from the east. Hinata manage to certify that they are in two groups of four, moving directly into their area before sheer panic takes over and she is back in the darkness.

She lets the fear washes over her for a couple of heartbeats before she pushes the cloying terror aside and scrambles to her feet, stumbling in the near darkness as she makes her way to him. She fell on one knee, wincing when a particularly sharp pebble cuts open her skin. Ignoring the added jolt of pain she grabs his shoulder.

"Hey! Wake…"

The rest of her words are engulf by a surprised shriek when she is abruptly shoves to her back, shoulders pin down under his weight. Her eyes widens when the biting feel of steel presses against her jumping pulse. His hands suddenly move from her throat to clamp down on her wrist, keeping her hands away from her body.

"Wait!" she forces air into her heaving lungs, her eyes on his. Waking him up like that obviously is a big mistake. "We have to go, now. Two groups are coming from… uh… over there."

He continues to study her without a word and the calculating look in his eyes fans the flames of her mounting fear.

"You think I'm lying to you? They may be on their way to kill us, right now and you're considering if you can believe me?"

"Us?"

"Fine, okay. Maybe it's me," her eyes narrows at his tone as she tries wrenching her hands away. His fingers tighten immediately and she winces at the strain it puts on her burning arm. "People are trying to kill me left and right, and I have no idea why. That means we have to… we have to…" The rising confusion on her face grows as she frantically tries to finish her train of thoughts, desperate to find the words to describe it.

"Evacuate? Leave? Move?" He guesses blandly but the nod she gives him is vigorous, much like a puppet that has lost her strings.

"Yes. Now."

"Not my problem. You're on your own, Hyuuga." He climbs to his feet before reaching down to grab the shirt she's holding. Sasuke glares down when she keeps a tight grip on the fabric and Hinata has no idea why she is so reluctant to part with a shirt that is not hers to begin with. The second she loosen her fingers, he pulls it away before shaking the cloth a couple of times.

"No, I'm coming with you."

He gives the shirt another good shake and Hinata frowns in distress, it's like he's already trying to erase any trace of her.

"No, you are not."

"Yes, I am."

He gives her an exasperated look but move to exit their cave, toeing the small fire to disperse it on the way out. Hinata points to the direction of where she last saw their pursuer. "They're coming from that side, we should take the… the other way."

Without another word, he took off into the trees and she immediately follows him. "Whatever you say, you still need me."

"The way I see it, Hyuuga, they're after you. If I ditch you, I'll be fine."

"You're a… a…" Her scrambled brain frantically tries to find the relevant vocabulary to express her feelings but the words seem to be out of her reach. She reluctantly settles on, "…not nice." Her scowl deepens at this sudden inability and she tosses another reply nevertheless. "Maybe they're after you. You look like you have an enemy or two."

"Is that a threat? Are you going to run off and let them know you found me?" He asks in a dry emotionless tone as they continue to jump across the tree tops.

"And who you are, again? Just so I get the name right when I decide to run off to them."

He stops immediately and Hinata lands on a nearby branch, trying her best not to feel winded when she notices his assessing look and her shoulders stiffen under the weight of his scrutiny. For some unknown reasons, her fingers twitch in agitation and she feels this need to do something with them.

"Is that a joke?"

"A joke?" her face fells and she blinks in confusion. "That's when you make people laugh. Why are you asking me that now? I didn't think I said anything funny." The confusion deepens and she asks with hesitation, "Did I?"

Sasuke could see the 'You didn't really want me to crack a joke right here, right now, right?' clearly reflects in her pale eyes. Her fingers are twisting the hem of her sleeve in her preoccupation and she is breathing a little too rapidly. He bits the inside of his cheek as he tries to figure out the Hyuuga in front of him. Is trouble communicating and the loss of vocabulary a symptom of amnesia as well? It's really starting to look like she is much worse than he originally thought.

"You really don't know who I am?"

"No, just that you're the only one who knows who I am."

He didn't stop to think when he replies, "Of course I know… "

"How do you know me?" Hinata interrupts him.

"How do you not know me?" The dark eyes of his didn't waver but he's eyeing her in preoccupied contemplation like she's the shattered pieces of a puzzle that should fit, but somehow didn't.

"Am I supposed to know you?" Her head tilts to one side, scrutinizing the man in front of her when the feeling of someone (a lot of someones actually) bearing down on them made her add, "I feel more comfortable talking about this after we have enough… enough…"

"Distance?" he contributes and stands.

"Yes."

He studies his surroundings, decide on his route and jumps ahead with a curt, "Hn. I'm leaving."

She blinks and then grits her teeth, the now familiar exasperation rearing its head. "Lead the way," she mutters under her breath.

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He didn't exactly lead her to safety. In fact, he did everything in his power to ditch her and disappears into the sunset. Or in their case, sunrise.

Hinata stares at the still dark pre-dawn sky and forces herself to keep up with his demanding speed. She would keep him in her view even if it kills her. Which doesn't seem to be that far in the future if he keeps to this crazy pace. She thought the only reason she is not alone, hiding in the occasional trees like she had done for the past few days is because of the tenacious need that burns within her as she follows him like a stubborn shadow.

The Uchiha could have point out that was partly true, another part is her skill as a tracker that made it somewhat impossible for him to lose her completely. He'd lose her, definitely, if he puts his mind to it but he is still playing with the idea of what he could do with her.

A Hyuuga.

Hyuugas are generally capable of manipulating tenketsu points with the aid of their Byakugan. He didn't know if this Hyuuga is a gift-wrapped present that fell into his lap or bait to his future destruction.

A Hyuuga who conveniently had no memory or recollection of the past of his Avenger days. Someone who is not immediately biased in regards to his sins for his former village is a burst of fresh air for him.

Someone who apparently needs him more than he needs her. Well, it is possible the need is mutual but he's not going to tell her that. But he is not about to offer his help on a silver platter. He needs to show her how much she needs him first. The decision to keep her with him and then get her to work on unlocking his Sharingan is not something he decided on lightly.

The Uchiha knows there is a possibility that she'll regain her memory before she's ready to work on him. If that happens, she'd be more willing to close every tenkutsu points he had, bound and gag him before taking him back with her to Konoha.

And yet, if he could settle everything before the missing memory resurfaces… his lips twitches upwards. He'd retain the use of his Sharingan again.

With that thought, he turns and headed towards his hideout, a small place he'd been calling his for close to a year now, all the while cautiously making sure no one will come across their joint tracks. He lands on one tree and turns back, his head cocks to one side as he waits to see if she's still on his tail.

How troublesome it would be that after he decides on taking advantage of the Hyuuga that she lost his trail and is lost somewhere in the jungle. However, before long, he catches sight of her.

The Hyuuga's features are pallid, the ripped blood-stained clothes are soaked with perspiration and when she lands on a tree next to his, she sags against the trunk, breathing hard.

A quick flash of guilt crosses over him but he pushes it aside. If she didn't die when she was stabbed and poisoned earlier, a little sprint across the jungle shouldn't do much harm. He turns away from her, who is still struggling with the use of her lungs and jumps down, walking briskly into his home. He could feel her hesitation for maybe a fraction of a second before she is behind him, catching the door before it closes and slips inside.

She is just about to sit, seconds away from stretching out the cramp in her legs and give the spasm in her lungs a break when he speaks and the cold tone sends shivers clawing up her spine.

"Tell me everything."

Hinata refuses to be intimidated by the likes of him, after all they were supposed to be acquainted in the past. "I woke up to find I'm injured. Hard to find the way back home when I didn't even know where home is. Wander around for a couple of days. Passed out half of that time. The other half, I spent avoiding people with weapons who seems to be after me. Found you, who were fighting some other people. Hit by something, passed out again, wake up in a cave and now here we are."

The way he is studying her, like he didn't really think that was it makes her fingers fidget in agitation.

"Before that?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know what?"

"Anything... everything!" Hinata straightens her spine, shoves her hands into her ripped pockets and stares defiantly up at him. "I don't even know my name before you told me."

Sasuke recalls the way she was hanging onto his arm, even when she was already passed out. "You don't remember anything?" The question comes out more as a statement though, the one he knows she is going to agree to.

"No." Her pale eyes are troubled as they probe his for reassurance. "What do you think I should do?"

The Uchiha feels heat crawling upwards from the back of his neck; he had never had women looking at him other than lust, admiration or fear. Someone who is waiting for his answer, his thoughts on what she should do, something that didn't include war strategies and in-depth plan for revenge; he didn't know how to handle that so he reverts back to something his eleven year old self would say. "How the hell should I know?" he turns away, muttering under his breath about annoying girls that treats him like information counters.

"Didn't we know each other before? So, you must've known where I come from, right? My family?"

Sasuke stiffens. To say yes would mean to hash out stuff he'd rather forget. Damn, now he wishes he is the one with the memory loss. "No."

"No?" She frowns as she follows his jerky movement across their current hideout. "But you know who I am, you said so."

"I know of you and I never said that." He crosses his arms around his torso, one brow almost disappears under his bangs as he stares at her, daring her to say otherwise.

Hinata blinks in agitation, "But... no! I remember that..."

"Ah... now you remember everything?" The dark eyebrow climbs higher.

"That's not... what I mean is... you said... No!"

The Hyuuga glares and he feels the confusion swirling inside of him calms down a notch at the sight of her scowl. Yeah, that's it. This he could handle. Make her angry instead of dependent on him. He didn't even bother with a reply and walks past her to a door at the end of the room and the door clicks close with a resounding echo behind him.

Hinata stares at the closed door with something that surpasses terror. Is he leaving again?

Her eyes widen as the fear rushes through her, the freezing cold that claws over her limbs. Her fingers fist around the damp fabric of her pants, her pulse shooting to triple digits and the terror constricts her chest.

He left... He left... He left!

She's alone... again. No… NO!

Her first few steps are a series of stumbles before her clammy hand grips the doorknob. Hinata pushes the door apart and rushes forward, forcing her shaky legs onwards, almost falling in her haste. "Wait! Don't..."

The frantic words trails off into shocked silence, pale eyes wide as they stares at the expanse of bare chest displays in front of her. He freezes as well, arms in an awkward angle before he quickly fumbles with his shirt, pulling it back on. "Dammit, Hyuuga. What the hell?"

"I... I..." She blinks the glassiness out of her eyes and straightens to face his wrath. "You're leaving! I thought you're leaving... me."

Sasuke will the flush to leave his face and glares down at her. "This day has been a long, painful one and I just want to sleep it off. You can leave, which I highly prefer by the way. There's the door if you didn't notice it earlier." He stomps around the sparse room to stop in front of the window, pushing it apart before leaning down to wash his face from a bowl beside it.

Hinata feels her heartbeat slows down when she realizes that this door doesn't lead outside but rather to a bedroom. Her chaotic brain churns with possibilities. There is a bedding spread out on the empty floor and single room means single bed. If she is to stay (is there even any other option?) she has to bunk out outside. Alone.

She shivers and takes the only option she can see. From the corner of her eyes, she keeps his back in her peripheral vision, quickly walking into the room. Without hesitation, she reaches down and stretches her limbs across the makeshift bed.

When he realizes her intention, Hinata makes sure a copy of his scowl is on her face as she frowns up at him.

"You're leaving. Right now."

Hinata ignores the biting order and turns away from him, scrunching her eyes tight. Her cold fingers start shaking so she closes them into tight fists. No, she will not be left alone again. Not if she can do anything about it. He will have to toss her stiff cold dead body out himself.

Sasuke stares at the scene in front of him. The Uchiha wonders about his sanity and himself in general when the first thought that crosses his mind is that she is going to bleed all over his clean, spotless sheets. The idea that he is going to sleep with the smell of blood is enough for him to lean over and toss her bodily out of his room. One hand already stretches out towards her stiff back when he notices her small tremors shaking through her. His fingers move to his weapon without thought before he realizes that she is not on the brink of an attack, instead she is shaking. He is not sure whether it is in anger or she is truly afraid of him.

The latter makes him pause and his fingers let go of his sharp blade, a first for him.

It takes him maybe ten seconds to get use to the idea of a roommate. Unwanted, yes. Avoidable, no.

Sasuke walks around her and sits on the far end of the room, his back against the cool wooden wall. He pulls up one leg to his chest before resting the crook of his elbow on his knee. He wonders briefly about this sudden clinginess from the Hyuuga and idly calculates the possibility of that on the overall plan of unlocking his Sharingan. He had just starting to list out his pro columns (she'll do whatever he tells her is on top. Obviously) when his brain abruptly shuts down and he falls into an uneasy sleep.

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End of Chapter 3.

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Preview for Chapter 4

"Later. How's your hand?" Sasuke notices that during their little altercation earlier, the Hyuuga didn't use her left hand, the one that had been injured from the Iwa-nin's weapon. He can't have a Byakugan user who lost the use of one hand.

"My hand?" Hinata turns her attention to the other limb, as if just realizing that it was encased in bandages.

Sasuke quickly close the gap between them and pulls the wounded arm to him. Her distressed yelp goes unnoticed as he unravels the cloth before studying the skin underneath the bandage. He pushes at the cut and she hisses at the intrusion.

"It's healing." His fingers are still busy prodding on the sore area. "You don't even need stitches."

"Stich… stitches?" The flush that is hovering over her cheeks recedes until there is no colour left.

Sasuke grunts something in response, still peering at the cut. Inwardly, he's grumbling at the Hyuuga's overflowing luck and wonders if this was the reason that the Hyuuga feels the need to dance in and out of Death's grip. Repeatedly at that too. Some people are just born lucky.

Hinata tries very hard not to pull her arm away from his grip. He is studying her wound as if it is the most interesting thing in the world, his dark head so close to her arm she could feel the wash of his warm breath on her skin. "You… Did you… do this?" She forces the question out and he blinks at her, straightening his lanky form. His dark eyes are fixed on hers.

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Thank you so much for the interest in this story! All of you are just awesome :D

I was planning on updating on Sunday (because you guys are just fantastic and I don't want to keep you waiting for too long) but then I had to babysit my nephew for the whole week. It is a little hard to work on this with a baby crawling around and over you, and using your notebook as his chewing toy. I love him to bits but I still have the drool marks on my monitor ^o^

Anyway, here's a longer chapter for all of you. Hope you like it! Don't forget to tell me what you think :)

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