Disclaimer : I do not own any of the characters below. I'm just a lowly fan.

Note : This is my first attempt in writing fanfic (or any story). So review would be very welcome. English is not my first language, and not my most excellent subject so you will definitely see many grammar or spelling errors. And I appreciate if you could tell me where exactly so that I can improve my writing.

XXX

Sasuke Uchiha woke up to the sound of chirping birds. Yawning and rubbing his eyes slightly, he turned his head towards the sole window in his room. He saw, rays of sunlight extended over the horizon which indicated it was just the beginning of dawn.

Groggily Sasuke rose from his bed to a sitting position. He then remembered he did not have a mission today, which means that he could continue his sleep. However Sasuke did not make a habit of returning back to sleep once he woke up. Thus he decided he could kill some time to do some training before going out for breakfast.

Not that he needed any more training. He was already acknowledged as one of the strongest shinobi in the world after his contribution in the Fourth Shinobi World War. As much as he hated to admit it, Naruto Uzumaki is the only one who could match his skills and fight him on the same level. And now that Itachi had died, he had no motivation to improve himself anymore. But he was not someone who could sit down doing nothing and He did not have any particular things he liked to do either. Thus he was going to train nevertheless.

He slipped out of his sleeping attire and changed into a clean pair of simple high collared, long sleeved shirt with an Uchiha symbol on the back, and a matching three quarter black pants. He tied a shuriken holder on his left thigh, and grabbed his favourite katana, the Sword of Kusanagi before he went out from his house, the old house he once lived happily with his family.

One year ago, after the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto had challenged him again for a fight. He thought he might as well settle their dispute once and for all and agreed, which ended up in a draw. Finally he had gave in to Naruto's persistence and returned back to Konoha. Tsunade, which was the Hokage had removed the seal on the Uchiha compound and declared the whole compound as rightfully his, and out of sudden he was one of the richest man in Konoha for the unexpected inheritance. Since then he had continue living in his old house despite the emotional trauma the place had given him. Initially, he was also put on constant monitoring for half a year. Everyday an ANBU would guard outside his house, and he was only allowed to leave the village if he was given a mission.

It was unnerving at first, to be in constant surveillance 24 hour every day. Thankfully his former team mates, Naruto Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno had always tried their best to make him feel comfortable living in the village. Naruto would often make a surprise visit to his house and drags him outside to train or eat Ramen. And Sakura would always invites him to hang around when he does not has a mission. Sometimes even Kakashi would come by and dropped a pile of his Icha Icha Paradise for him to read during his break, much to his dismay. Little by little their nosiness made him forgot about the presence of the ANBU following him.

Sakura had also confessed to him again one year ago when he returned. Once again he had rejected her. Although she was special to him, but he was sure he did not feel the same way she did, and he just cannot see her as more than a friend. Sakura understood, and through tears she had replied that she wished they could remained as friends, and they have been that way ever since.

So for a year now Sasuke had remained single, despite constantly being in centre of attraction by the village girls. He could not find anyone that could make him feel that he wants to live and grow old together with her yet. Sometime he even thinks that he would grow and die as a lonely old man. If that happens, then people would only hear about Sharingan in history book. He was not too fond of the idea though.

Focussing his chakra at the sole of his feet, Sasuke kicked off the ground and leaped on the branch of a nearby tree. He thought he would reached the training ground faster if he avoid walking on the ground. He can could also avoid the piercing stares of the villages who have not really forgotten his previous status as a missing-nin. The world is not exactly forgiving. Although he doubt anyone had already wake up at this time of the day. Probably a few, but he would not taking chances.

Within minutes, the training ground spread into view. It was still dark thus he did not expect someone to be there before him.

A young woman probably around his age with long indigo hair tied in a ponytail was standing with her back towards him, facing the stumps he vividly remembered where he first started training with squad 7 after he graduated from the academy. How time flies, was it about 5 years already? The place still looked the same. He was not sure who she was because he was unable to see her face, but she seemed so familiar. Was she in the same class as him? He could not remember. The only clue on her identity for now was the Hyuga Insignia on the sleeve of her purple jacket, indicating that she was a Hyuga, a noble clan in Konoha with a dojutsu like him. But he remembered vaguely that Hyuga was the exact opposite of Uchiha. Instead of having black eyes like him, they have white coloured eyes. He was not sure about the other details though because he never seen any of them except quite recently after he returned.

Sasuke stopped on one of the branches about 50 metres from her. He hates sharing, thus he thought he would just wait until she finished her training, then he could start training on his own. So he sat and leaned comfortably against the trunk, with both his hands behind his head. Without realizing it, his gaze drifted absently towards the young woman on the ground below.

Her hands was glowing with a bluish chakra, and instead of the usual way people fights with their fists, the woman used palm thrust and her fingers. Curious, Sasuke leaned forward to have a better look.

Sometimes she would thrust her palm from far away and sent an air force which knocked the stump backwards, other time she would use her index and middle finger and hit the stump, sending her bluish chakra through it. Then after she finished with the stump, she would stand in the open space and rotated 360 degrees while sending out her bluish chakra from her body. Sasuke stared in awed. He had never seen such techniques before. This was the first time he saw a Hyuga fights despite growing up in Konoha. In the past he remembered a male Hyuga who was also around his age that he was excited to spar with, but he never got the chances to because of many circumstances. He frowned and crossed his arms. Did all Hyuga had techniques such as these? How strong would they be?

Sasuke was so deep in thoughts that he was surprised when suddenly the woman shouted ''Byakugan!'' and gasped. His heart skipped a beat when the woman slowly turned towards him and looked exactly at where he was sitting since about half an hour ago, her eyes wide. ''How was she able to find me?'' He thought.

Confused white pearls stared at nervous black orbs. Sasuke took this opportunity to study her face which had aroused his curiosity for a while now. She had a fair complexion like she had not seen much sun in her life. Her hair was indigo, straight and long which she tied in a high ponytail with some of the shorter strands framed her heart shaped face. She had to admit she found her cute. Pretty even. And what caught his eyes the most were her eyes. They were Hyuga's pearl white eyes, the exact opposite of his black ones. He had seen many Hyugas before but her eyes mesmerised him for reasons he could not understand. Then he noticed the dilated veins surrounding her eyes and he gasped with understanding how she had found him.

Sasuke swallowed a bitter taste in his saliva. He felt like he was caught in the act of stalking even though he was not. Okay maybe he was looking out of curiosity but that was it. He stubbornly felt that he did not do anything wrong and he mentally prepared retorts just in case she accused him of stalking her.

To his surprise, the woman bowed, as low as her waist would allowed her.

''I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun!'' The woman said. Her voice sounded expectedly soft, just like how she looked. She had deactivated her Byakugan now. The veins had disappeared from her eyes.

''I didn't notice you were there. I'll leave now.''

She turned from him and grabbed her bag that was lying on the grass. Leaving Sasuke confused of the situation. How did she knew his name? Then again it was not surprising that she would know someone as infamous as him. but that was not important right now.

Before his mind registered what he was doing, his hand was already grabbing her wrist, shocking both himself and her. She turned and looked at her wrist that he held, then her gaze shifted upwards to his face in confusion.

''Umm Sasuke-kun? What are you doing?'' she asked.

Sasuke hastily dropped her wrist and pocketed his hand, another hand moved to run his fingers around his messy dark hair. His eyes wandered everywhere except her face even though he found it hard to ignore her scrutinizing gaze.

Giving up, Sasuke looked at her whilst trying his best to make sure that his expressions remained indifferent, which was not hard for someone who was trained to throw his emotion away in other to become an avenger. He already knew the reason why he stopped her. ''Stay.'' He commanded. Normal people would politely ask for a favour but not Sasuke Uchiha. He was too prideful to ask.

The young woman furrowed her eyebrows looking more confused. Wrinkles appeared on her pretty face which annoyed the Uchiha. He found himself raising his voice without intending to.

''I'm asking you to stay. I need a partner to train.''

This time the young woman widen her eyes in shocked. Sasuke was amused to see so many different expressions in her face in the short time he saw her. She raised her hands and cupped her mouth. Then she raised both of her hands and waved frantically.

''Me? N-No, I couldn't possibly…'' she stuttered. Sasuke heart dropped. Because of his looks and intimidating aura, he had never had anyone saying 'no' to his face before, thus he was not prepared to be rejected, especially not by a woman. ''I mean you are one of the strongest Shinobi in this world, how could someone like me train with you?'' She continued.

Without warning Sasuke lifted his leg and aimed a kick towards her abdomen. As he expected, she reflexively guarded from his attack before it could reach her. Despite that the force from his kick sent her flying backwards and slammed her into a tree. She supported herself with her forearm and knees before she completely fell on the floor, protecting her face from the ground.

Sasuke dropped his leg on the ground and crossed his arms. The woman put one hand on her knee and the other on the ground and raised her head to glare at him angrily.

''You!'' She pushed herself up. Her tone expressed her displeasure at being attack suddenly without explanation. She pointed an index finger to him. ''What was that for?''

'Sasuke shrugged and smirked. ''To prove my point.''

The woman raised her eyebrows in confusion. Sasuke was really enjoying himself now. Apart from her jacket that was became dirty after she fell and his sandal print on her sleeve, she appeared to be uninjured, which was what he expected.

''You are able to defend against my attack, doesn't that make you a suitable partner for me?'' He continued. Then he realized his mistake in wording. ''I mean, suitable training partner.'' He corrected. Somehow he felt that his cheeks grew warmer now which he hoped it was not noticeable.

The woman stare at him in disbelief. She opened up her mouth as if to argue, but no words coming out from her. Then she closed her mouth and smiled, shocking and mesmerising him at the same time. Cupping her hands over her mouth, she laughed. Her shoulders shook as she burst into an uncontrollable laughter, leaving Sasuke confused with her behaviour this time. Did she knocked her head to the tree just now? He wondered worriedly.

He was about to walk closer to check whether she got a concussion when she stopped laughing. Wiping her tears away, she activated her Byakugan and again the veins appeared around her eyes. She then spread her legs and assumed a fighting stance, one hand raised in front of her while the other bended behind, palm thrusted forward. She looked at him with a confident smile. ''Then please make sure you don't lower your guard, Sasuke-kun!''

Sasuke snorted as he too, assumed his fighting position. He was pleased that he finally had a chance to fight a Hyuga. Though there was a nagging thoughts at the back of his mind that convinced him that was not the only reasons for his sudden elated mood. Whatever. He dismissed his thoughts and focused his attention to the woman in front of him now. He was sure he would regret it if he lowered his guard in front of her. Then he remembered something that had been nagging him for a while now.

''Hey. What's your name?'' He asked.

''Hinata. Hinata Hyuga.'' The woman replied with a smile.