The Art of Healing
by Whimsycal
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Prologue
Up until that year, I had been stuck in a void hole. I was moving, but I was not going anywhere. I was trying my hardest to be someone, but I was the invisible girl no one knew. I thought I was in love with someone, and it ended up not being what I thought it was.
Then I met him, and he became my best friend. And before we could ever turn back, he became something more.
It started the summer before senior year. He was seventeen, and I was sixteen, and even though I've known him for almost my whole life, I've never really tried to get to know him until then.
...
Chapter 1: Locked In
The clock on the wall was ticking. We watched the second hand intently, not caring about the random babbling of our 7th period teacher. He was distractedly looking at the clock as well, telling us the summer plans he had with his family.
And suddenly it came.
"DING, DING, DING."
The bells indicating the end of school, the beginning of summer, were soon drowned out by the cheers of everyone in class. Sensei grinned at us, "I'll see you all next year. Have a great summer!". People trickled out of the classroom, chatting with friends and packing up all their supplies. The room quickly emptied of people eager to start their summer vacation.
After zipping up my backpack, I gave a quick glance around the room, thinking how even though I was looking forward to the next two months, I was somehow going to miss the daily order of school. It gave me something to do, at least.
And I didn't have to stay at home.
"Hinata!" I heard someone next to me say. Turning, I saw Tenten, one of my schoolmates who occasionally talked to me sometimes, slap her hands on the desk in front of me.
"H-hi" I said, smiling at her. Tenten was one of the nicest people I knew, and she was always outgoing, so sometimes I wondered why she even talked to me, the girl everyone thought was gloomy and quiet.
She grinned back at me, and said excitedly, "Hinata, wanna go to a pool party next week?"
Pool party? I blushed, as I thought about what constituted a pool party. I would have to wear a swimsuit, which my self-consciousness did not like. "Ano... I'll.. think about it?" I glanced down at my desk, staring at my hands.
"Oh, come on!" She pouted, "Do you have anything better to do?"
I had to admit she had a point. And I was kind of happy she even thought of inviting me. I rarely got invitations to any kind of party. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, I thought to myself.
"O-okay. I'll go. Thank you for asking m-me."
Tenten smiled, "Yay! Okay, it's next Monday at the Konoha pool. Around noon. Be there."
I stored this information in my memory, and said, "G-got it!"
She looked at me closely. "Aren't you hot?"
I didn't feel comfortable without a baggy sweater. Even though I had the school uniform on underneath, I liked being able to hide in the bulkiness of my sweater.
"I'm f-fine!" I was used to it by now, anyways.
"Whatever you say. One day I'm going to dress you in normal clothes. One day soon. Oh, I forgot to mention. Naruto will be going too." Tenten said, with a laugh. "Oh, I'm going to be late to my part-time job. See you next week!"
Before I could say bye, she gave me a thumbs up, and left the classroom, running after some of her friends who were leaving.
Wait. Did I just hear her say that Naruto was going? I gulped. I couldn't possibly go now! My stuttering always got fifty times worse whenever I was near Naruto. And geez, it was going to be a pool party, so I had to wear a swimming suit.
What was I going to do? I was definitely not confident enough of my body to wear a swimming suit.
Not that he would even notice me anyways.
But I had already told Tenten I would go.
I groaned, and sunk back down in my seat, leaning forward on the desk and hiding my face behind my hands for a while. By now I was probably the only one left in the classroom. The only one who wasn't looking so forward to summer vacation.
There was someone else still in the room, I realized. His hood was pulled over his head, and from the looks of it, he was asleep. He probably didn't even realize that school was over, and summer was here.
I didn't want him to be left alone in the classroom while everyone was already gone, so I walked over to his desk, and tapped him softly on his shoulder.
"U-um… s-school is over…" No response. I tapped him again. "H-hello?"
His face had been buried between his arms on his desk, but then he turned his head towards me. I squeaked with surprise.
"S-sasuke-kun?" I can't say I really know him that well, because I don't. We've been in the same classes together since as long as I could remember, but since he never spoke to me, I never tried to start conversations with him either.
"What?" He growled at me. If looks could kill, I would be dead already. I wasn't sure why he was being so grouchy, so I just stared at the ground, and whispered, "S-school is over…"
I could feel him staring at me with his dark, dark eyes for a moment as I felt my face heat up. Then, as if he saw me as a nuisance, he turned back to the desk. I was left standing there stupidly, looking as his hooded head.
After a few minutes of silence, I heard him breathing deeply. He... he fell asleep again? I wasn't sure what to think, or do.
I glared at his back, and grabbed my backpack to leave. Fine, whatever. He could stay as long as he wanted to. It wouldn't be my fault if he ended up being stuck in school the whole summer.
I really did not like Sasuke Uchiha, I couldn't help but think, as I closed the door behind me quietly.
But something made me stop. What if he really got stuck in school the whole summer? I guess I should wait for him, and besides, I didn't have anything else to do. And I hated going home.
So I went back inside, and sat at the desk next to his, leaning my head against my arm. That guy better wake up soon. I sure did not want to be locked in school.
...
Why was my neck hurting? I slowly opened my eyes, only to see that outside the window the sky was already beginning to darken.
Oh no. I had accidentally fallen asleep while waiting for Sasuke to wake up.
Sitting up quickly, I saw that Sasuke-kun wasn't in the classroom anymore. My heartbeat quickened, and I stood up.
Where did he go? Did he just abandon me?
I ran out of the classroom. The hallways were all dark. I never knew how scary a school could be when everyone was gone. My footsteps echoed up and down the hallways as I searched for a way out with frenzy.
"S-sasuke-kun?" I called softly. He had probably already left a long time ago. Was I going to die here? Sinking down onto my knees, I felt my eyes fill with tears.
This was so scary. The hallways were nearly black, save for some light that came in from the few windows as the sun shined its last rays over the land.
Tears still running down my cheeks, I stood up, and using the walls as support, tried to find the door that would bring me outside. Please, please don't be locked.
A hand grabbed my shoulder out of nowhere. So I did the only things I could think of doing. I screamed and punched the unknown menace.
"Omph! Hey, it's me!"
Ahh… that voice sounded a little bit familiar.
"S-sasuke-kun? W-w-w-what are you doing here?" Didn't he already leave? Then I realized what I did. I punched him. I punched him! I grimaced.
"S-s-sorry! I didn't know it was y-you!"
He held something over me, probably to punch me back. I closed my eyes, preparing for the hit. I wasn't going to die from being locked in a school for two months. I was going to die in the hands of scary Sasuke-kun. I couldn't decide which was worse.
"Hey, take it."
I opened my eyes in surprise, as he placed something cold in my hands. A bottle of water. Oh. But why? I guess I was a little thirsty though, so I took it and thanked him.
He didn't say anything else as I pried open the cap and drank some of the water. Talk about awkward.
Suddenly I remembered our situation. "A-are we locked in?"
He smirked. "No."
"Oh…" Oh, good. So… where's the exit? He didn't tell me where the unlocked door was, but started walking. I followed him nervously. It was even darker now. I could dimly see his figure walking slightly ahead of me, but when I looked down I couldn't see my feet.
He was scary, but staying alone in this dark school was even scarier. I was glad he was here, I had to admit to myself.
We approached the main doors, and he opened it with ease, letting us out into the pleasant night air.
"B-but…how? That wasn't l-locked?" I could only gape in surprise.
"No. The janitors will be coming to clean later, like they do everyday."
Oh, so that was it. He was pretty smart. Or I was just kind of dumb. I blushed.
Giving him a weak smile, I said. "T-thanks for the water, and h-helping me out."
"Hn.", was the reply I got. Somehow I thought that even though he was sparse with words, he was saying 'no problem'.
"W-well… I should get going…." I gave him a full smile this time, and told him, "See you n-next year!"
I turned and started walking, but I heard his footsteps behind me, so I looked back with quizzical eyes.
He stuck his hands in his pockets, and said, "It's dark. I'll walk you home."
Um….my house wasn't that far away. It only took ten minutes for me to walk home, usually. "I-it's fine, I can w-walk home myself. It's really c-close."
Sasuke just shrugged, and turned away. As he walked in the opposite direction, I thought I heard him mutter, "It's not like I have anything else to do."
Maybe Sasuke wasn't as bad as I had thought. And not as scary, either. Maybe he was actually nice.
...
The mansion was as empty as always when I arrived home. Father was probably still at work, Hanabi was probably out with her friends, and Neji was probably locked in his room playing video games.
I sighed as I made my way up those winding stairs, turning on all the lights I passed. Turning on the lights made things seem a little less lonely, even though I knew I was wasting electricity.
After dropping my backpack at the foot of my bed, I plopped down and rested my head on my pillow, looking around my room.
It was pretty big, but that just made it seem even emptier. There was my bed, some old pictures on the walls, a desk, some bookshelves, and some other random furniture here and there.
Reaching into a drawer, I grabbed my mp3 player and walked out to my room's balcony. It was my favorite spot in the whole house, because I could sit down next to the handrails and look up at the sky.
It was my special place, and mine alone. No one could bother me here, not even my father. When I went onto my balcony I closed the drapes so if someone went into my room they couldn't see me sitting there.
I watched cars zoom by our street, and a stray cat climb stealthily up a neighbor's fence, and listened to quiet classical music humming in my ears.
But it still felt like something was missing.
From under the streetlights I saw the shadow of someone walking down the street, away from my house. I vaguely wondered who that could be. It crossed my mind that maybe, just maybe, it was Sasuke. The back of his head looked like Sasuke's head, anyways. Like, it was all spiked up and stuff.
Probably just my imagination. I think I spent way too much time with him today.
Suddenly I didn't feel like sitting there anymore.
I went down the hall to Neji's room and knocked on his door.
"N-neji-nii? Are you hungry? I was going to m-make some dinner."
I heard the soft click of his lock, and he slowly opened the door. Neji was my cousin, but ever since his parents died he had been living with us. I considered him my brother. I thought I was antisocial, but Neji was less sociable than me.
"Yeah. Thanks."
I nodded, and turned around, hearing him quietly closing his door behind me.
Sighing, I wondered to myself what I could make for dinner today, and whether or not father and Hanabi would make it home to eat it with us, like a family should.
I doubted it.
...
A/N: July 13, 2010
Ahh. It's been more than a year since I started this fic. I've just decided to edit and update it a little bit, and hopefully it will be better than it was before. I've changed some facts. Hinata's character has changed in some ways, and I have a new direction for the fic, I think. I appreciate the people who reviewed and favorited this story, even after I stopped writing for so long. :)