A/N: Thanks for the support given to this story so far. Hope you enjoy this chapter :)

*"Ronin" is a japanese term to define a wanderer.

The faint crackling of a burning fire buzzed through his ears, strong enough to stir him awake from what had felt like an eternal slumber. A welcoming warmth traced the features of his face like a lover's gentle touch. He heard himself groan aloud as his eyelids fluttered, his vision slowly altered from the pitch darkness he had been kept in to a cloudy imagery of vague cracks decorating the stone ceiling he faced.

Where… am I?

His body felt heavy, almost as if piled by the weight of a numbing sensation from laying in a static state for a long duration. His fingers felt powerless to even stretch so it took him a lot of will power to drive his body into a sitting position. He immediately let out a wince, his abdomen throbbing from the pain gnawing cruelly through the sheet of bandages wrapped around it.

A pungent smell seeped through the area of his wound, the familiar scent of medicinal herbs providing him slight comfort that his injuries had been tended to.

But by who?

He glimpsed to his side, his orange robe could be seen neatly folded and placed on top of what seemed to be a makeshift table from a large crate with a tattered piece of cloth spread across. His katana laid aside his bindle that had been shifted to the side of the crate. Naruto drew out a relieved sigh knowing his belongings were well kept and within his reach.

His eyes began to wander aimlessly, strokes of pieces of what his mind could gather began to come together till a painted image of where he was laid before him. A cave so hollow and deep, the only source of light came from the gentle fire keeping his body heated. The eerie howl of a draft became the sole sound he could hear as he deduced there was no other presence in the cavern except him.

Naruto held his head, doing his best to calm his pulsing mind that thrived to recall the final sight he witnessed before he surrendered to the pensive beckoning of unconsciousness. The last memory he had was the concluding blow he dealt to the only man standing from the ambush he had encountered near the lakeside. Anything further from that point could only be refreshed in a blurry view.

His heart momentarily froze. Wait, an ambush! Don't tell me…

He forced himself up, ignoring the cries of agony that resonated through his body from his sudden movement and limped over to his katana. He quickly unsheathed it, his panic dimmed to ease at what he saw.

No traces of blood… thank God.

In a blink of an eye, his stance switched as he turned and pointed the sword at a person shrouding in the darkness, a soft exclamation could be heard from his instantaneous action. "Who's there?"

A frightened pause filled the tense ambiance before he caught a whisper of a voice telling him, "Please, don't move. You need to rest more."

If it weren't for their location primed for noises to easily bounce off the stoned walls and the echo aiding in amplifying her voice volumes louder, he would have barely heard anything. Her frightful intonation augmented her cautious actions as she remained hidden in the darker side, but her cowardice did nothing to waver his battle stand.

"I asked who you were," his stern tone reverberated across the enclosed space.

Her feet moved backwards a few steps. "A nobody."

Her reply pushed him slightly off his strained position. He felt his stance loosened from the harmless vibes she radiated but his fighting instincts refused to allow himself the leisure on bearing vulnerability so openly. Naruto tilted his head and squinted his eyes as he tried to envision the person's appearance but the bleak lighting of the cave only allowed so much.

He lowered his katana a little. "Come closer."

The harsh order only caused the silhouette of the person to cower away even further as though she was ready to flee the second he dared to move a step forward. "Please," her voice however became more noticeable. "Your wound will open back if you aren't too careful."

Naruto pressed lightly against the bandaged wound. "So you were the one who healed me?"

Her silence affirmed his presumption.

His hand rose again as his eyes bore a suspicious glare. "Why would you help me? Not only am I a stranger you've never met but I also wield a sword ready to kill."

She remained quiet as hesitation plagued but then he heard her faint reply, "Your weapon may be murderous yet your intentions say otherwise. A sword is merely a sword unless the wielder wishes for it to be more."

Naruto had not expected such an answer, intrigued by her calm response when he was still shoving his katana at her direction. "Has no one ever told you how dangerous it is to simply judge based on mere things like appearances? How sure are you I am not simply buying time before I kill you?"

He felt the atmosphere change as her silhouette began to approach and even with the dim lighting, he was still left floored by her appearance.

Her long tresses he had seen flowing like threads were now kept into a bun with her face framed by the pieces of hair she loosened in front. A beautiful white flower adorned her midnight locks well, almost similar to the ones he had witnessed her crafting them into a bracelet that now resided safely in his belongings. Her voluptuous figure hidden away behind a simple lilac kimono showed her youthful stature and completed the drawing of a fair maiden.

Her misty eyes that hinted at intricate secrets were gazing shyly at him.

"I am both blessed and cursed with eyes that may see too much for its own good."

Her footsteps inched closer and closer towards him despite his katana still brazenly faced her way. As she made her way nearer, he caught sight of her hands holding a basket that was filled with an assortment of food with a jug of water. He watched her place them on the floor a foot away from him, his wary eyes never leaving hers as his mind became befuddled by her every move.

"Help yourself. You need to regain your energy should you wish for your wound to heal faster," and with that, she turned to leave. He only lowered his weapon when she had disappeared from his line of vision completely, grimacing as he obeyed his body's demand to sit down from straining his ached muscles too much.

He felt befuddled by the mystery placed before him. Was this young woman really the fearful demon she is accused of? How preposterous! There is no monster in existence that held compassion for another life enough to go out of their way to heal said person. The term 'demon' itself harboured a lethal and dark connotation so the only reason people would presume she was even close to such a definition would be if they had never seen her themselves.

For if they did, they probably would be left breathless as he was.

So many questions piled up in his mind. Why did she choose to remain in the comfort of solitude and silence when she could try and clear her name from the murky title of a monster? Why did she say such things about her eyes? Where did she come from? Does she have family? Friends? A lover?

Then his attention drew to his katana.

… I have no time to be meddling in her affairs. I shouldn't even be here. It's too dangerous.

He pierced the ground beneath with his weapon to ease his body up but the wound pushed him back to his knees, a hiss of pain escaped his lips as his injury made it clear that he would have to restrain himself for a few days. Naruto cursed to himself, wallowing in self-pity on how such a simple mistake had cost his journey on a short hold. Yet he knew he could not afford such leniency. A wanderer wanders for a reason.

And his reason will prove hazardous for both him and the young maiden should he stay with her for too long.

A few days, nngh, I just need a few days more.

His mind ingrained the idea that he would have to extend his rest here solely to allow his injury to heal but his heart couldn't help but flutter knowing he would be able to see the girl with enchanting eyes longer.

Like a rapid current of a stream, a week had passed.

Naruto found himself completely smitten.

How could he not? There were no other words to describe her other than angelic. The past couple of days had been filled with a daily regimen of her tentatively caring for his wounds along with ensuring he received the best care she could provide, what with her living conditions restraining her from doing more.

He could not deny the disappointment he felt noticing his injury losing the ache and merely leaving behind a minuscule scar.

By the faint glow of the fire, he watched her closely as she gently checked his wound for a final time. The light heat of the cloth she used to dab on the scar portrayed the warm tenderness of her touch that had nursed him back to health. Her cheeks donned a fair shade of red with her eyes avoiding his the longer he fixated his gaze on her. Naruto was too transfixed to bother about boundaries. These moments when she was only inches away from his sight bore prime opportunities for him to further appreciate her beauty that could not be compared.

"The wound seems to have healed well," her words slurred as though saddened. "You shouldn't feel any more pain after this."

As she began wrapping clean bandages around his abdomen, he felt his heart sink. Her words though chosen to not mention, they still hazed over the notion that this meant he should be leaving soon. He would need to leave her. His mind fell into a distraught as he realized how heavy his body felt knowing he would soon be apart from this perplexing lady with secrets he still had not unravelled.

Not even her name.

"What is your name?" The abrupt question even surprising himself as she mirrored his own shock. Her fingers stopped momentarily from wrapping around his waist and the close proximity between them allowed him to notice her blush deepening.

"They call me the white-eyed monster."

"What they say matters not to me," Naruto said with slight irritation at that word being associated with her. "What is your name?"

A small smile curved her lips, her hands resumed in bandaging him up. "Hinata. Hyuuga Hinata."

"Hinata," he repeated, enunciating each syllable with a certain sense of familiarity. The more it echoed in his mind, the more a painful throb of déjà vu seemed to tingle. He couldn't pinpoint the reason, for he was certain he knew no one with the same name as hers yet a nagging voice refused to let it slip so easily.

"Isn't it customary for you to respond with yours?" Her tone holding a hint of mockery as her smile grew.

Naruto laughed. "Polite conventions do not apply to wanderers such as myself. Petty things such as names do not matter when we set our lives to constantly roam."

Her fingers tied up the ends of the bandage tightly and lingered for a second. "Then… would you mind me asking something else, Ronin-san?"

Naruto could feel his breath hitch from the way their glances locked. "What is it?"

"Are you...," a halt in her words when her eyes trailed to the side where his katana laid. From her cautious stance and the slight tremble of her body, he understood instantly.

"A murderer?" he continued for her, the daunting phrase stirring a painful memory to arouse.

You murderer!

"No," came her swift response, her fingers clenched around each other. "Running away?"

He felt taken aback by her question, unsure on whether she even understood the connotations of her words. He had not expected her to strike so close to the truth till he feared she probably knew more than she had let on. He stood up immediately and walked over to where his orange robe laid.

"If you fear that you're housing a criminal, don't worry," he said, slinging the robe over his body. "I plan to leave as soon as I can."

"Please, that is not what I meant," Hinata replied with a hurried tone. "It's just that… nobody ever comes to this forest."

His fingers paused from tying the obi around his waist, noticing the underlying warning she had placed beneath her cautionary words. A subtle teaser to a story of utter loneliness and separation from a society that had deemed her a monstrosity based on a fable they conjured on their own. He felt his feet wanting to anchor down and stay with her so they could rewrite the tale somehow.

But his katana served as a constant reminder on why he walked his own path of solitude.

"A wanderer never asks for the destination, he follows the navigation of the wind instead," he said, placing the scabbard in the hold of his obi as he picked up his bindle.

Hinata stood up with her eyes downcast, a forlorn expression marred her face. "Then the wind made a mistake in bringing you here."

Naruto walked towards her, a grin on his lips as she looked at him astonished. "No, for once, I think it didn't." He held out his hand to her and in his hold was the flower bracelet she had tinkered with a year ago. The memoir he had carried with him in hopes he could return it to her personally one day. She seemed surprised that it was under his possession, her eyes glancing at him befuddled.

"I believe this is yours."

Her hands hesitantly moved towards his but instead of taking the accessory, she enclosed it back into his palm. "Keep it, a token from me as a charm for good luck in your travels."

Naruto gripped it tightly as he asked the only thing on his mind. "Then may I use this as an excuse to come see you again?"

The smile she wore radiated her beauty even more.

"I'll be waiting."