set before shippudden, before Sasuke took off.

The world. A dark place. A sad place. A place to hate. In his eyes.

The world. A fickle place. A changing place. A place to find happiness. In her eyes.

Today, it seemed, was a day for reflection. Everything was calm, everything was quiet. The wind barely stirred the branches, the ripples in the lake were hardly noticable. Yes. Today was a day for inflection. She didn't like it. The quiet was only ever broken by children or babies, they did not feel the difference in the air.

It was barely 9am but even the most exhausted of shinobi were up and ready for whatever should cross their path. Some greeted the Hyuuga hieress with polite nods or a mumbled 'Good-morning', she knew they were only interested in her status. Hinata had long since accepted the fact that people only ever saw her eyes, and as soon as they saw them their eyes shot to her forehead to see if she was anyone important. Then she saw him, kind of hard to miss in his bright-orange jumpsuit. But it wasn't for him that she cared deeply for, it was for the dark figure beside him.

Uchiha Sasuke. The name on every girls lips. Dark, mysterious, handsome and uncaring. He was the epitome of what every girls dream-man was. She was no different. She wanted to be noticed by him, loved by him, just like all the others. But, unlike all the others she had accepted the futility of such a dream. The chances that a boy like that would look at her with anything other than distain were laughable. She was no beauty, she knew that. She was intelligent, but no more so than your average kunoichi. The only thing he, or anyone else would notice about her were her eyes.

They were close, they were just walking by eachother, then he was behind her and gone. She could not look back without being obvious, and with rumor that she had it for Naruto wouldn't help either. She kept walking.

She didn't exactly know why she was wandering Konoha, she had no destination in mind. Her team mates were doing their own business and her sensei was off with Asuma somewhere. Since she hadn't a particularly strong desire to go back to her family, and the only people she was close to were somwhere else she was at loss about what she could do for the day.

She walked, and she walked, and she walked some more. She must have been walking for more than two hours when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw him again. She had just walked past the entrance to another street, she hadn't noticed him walking down it until she was almost past it. She walked at the same pace that she had been, to slow down now would be a slight give-away.

He was walking with his hands in his pockets, as per usual. Naruto screaming in his ear, it seemed Naruto, along with the children and the babies, hadn't noticed the mood. As she had no place to be, her pace was naturally slower than they, whom had places to be and people to see. They quickly caught up to,and passed her. She almost gasped, because, whether purposefuly or accidentaly, the latter being the more likely of the two, his knuckles had brushed off of the top of her arm, her being much shorter than himself of course. It could barely be called a touch, she could almost have sworn she had imagined it. But if the way her arm was tingling was anything to go by, that had definantly happened.

Now, Hinata wasn't the type to dilude herself, he couldn't have possibly meant something by it. But how she wished he had. She knew she was acting like a lovesick puppy and she was angry with herself for getting so flustered over something so small. But she was, and it was what consumed her thoughts for another half-hour. That was, until, She saw him. Again.

She felt, rather than saw his presence. She looked up so quickly she thought she would suffer from whiplash. She then deftly looked away when she noticed that her sudden movement had caught his attention. She could feel his gaze, it was searing the side of her head as she pretended to be interested in one of the stalls.

Then. As soon as it had happened, it was gone.

She didn't know whether she should cry for joy that the pressure of his eyes were gone, or lament that she no longer held his attention. He got closer and closer, on his own this time. Just as she thought he was about to pass, he turned.

Her breath caught in her throat as he came closer to her, she could not see him, he would notice the change in the air if she activated the Byakugan, but again, she could feel him. He got so close, she was sure she was going to pass out from his close proximity. He leaned over her. She wasn't sure whether she should fear for her life or melt from his body heat. He picked up a kunai from the stall she was looking at, paid, then left. The shop keeper looked at her oddly, there was, after all, a hyperventilating teen at his stall. Hinata turned and left, leaving a confused man behind her.

Her mind was reeling again. Why would he lean over her when there was enough room at the stall-front for the both of them? 'Probably nothing' she told herself. No need to be setting up hope for time she had only walked ten minutes when she saw him, at first she thought it odd, the frequency that she saw him. But then she figured, she could have been walking in circles and not known it for all the attention she was paying to where she was going. As long as she didn't walk into something, grand, other than that, she let her feet take her wherever they wished.

This time he was not alone, he had Sakura babbling at him about how annoying Naruto was, and how he would never compare to her Sasuke-kun. He payed no attention, if anything, he was slightly irritated. Not that Hinata would ever admit it, it thrilled her to no end to see that Sasuke wasn't in the least bit interested in sakura.

He was walking straight at her, her heart pounded again. Then, he walked around her. She didn't know whether to be relieved or dissapointed.

That was, until, she felt his hand rub against hers. This time it felt very intentional. She found that it was getting harder and harder to stop herself. Stop herself hoping that there might be something for her in his heart. But there shouldn't be, couldn't be any feeling for her. He had never even talked to her. But even though logic told her a firm 'no' she couldn't help it, she hoped.

It was another three hours before she saw him again. Yes, again. Almost four O' clock if her internal clock was right. He was on his own again. The street was empty, why? 'Oh' she thought, 'it's raining' How long had it been raining for, how could she not have noticed? But then again, she was so used to the feel of water by now she was hardly concious if she was dry or wet anymore.

'Wait, then why is he in the rain?' She looked up, she could have fainted right there and then. He was staring at her, no mistake. He walked towards her, there was purpose in those eyes, and there was no mistaking who they were looking at. There was nothing and no-one left to look at.

He did it then, not a brush of skin nor the mere heat of his body. Then once more, he was gone. Leaving only a girl, and the memory of his lips on hers.

She didn't faint, as she thought she would. Instead, she ran home, out of the rain. She needed to sort both her mind and her heart. She grew sleepy faster than usual, weary from her walking. She fell asleep at only 9 O' clock with a smile on her face in anticipation of what would happen tomorrow.

The world was indeed a small place.

She never saw him the next day, or the day after that. In fact, she wouldn't see Sasuke for years to come. He had left the village. She was heartbroken.

It would be years until she would see him again. Even longer until she would kiss him again. She would never find out however, that the number of times she saw him that day was not fluke. It was the last attempt of a boy to win her heart before he had to leave. And that small kiss, her kiss, was what kept him going for the next five years of his life. Until he saw her again.

I hope you liked it even though it was a bit monotonous. Reveiws and Critisism is accepted.