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The knob rattled a metallic sound, and Ino turned to leave. But just as she was about to walk away, another click sounded, and she looked back to see a young man behind the door.

-x-

The sky was a shade of shy gold as Ino waited for the clouds to cover the sun. In a while, the mist would descend on the mountain, gently and quietly, like a bridal veil, touching the green of the leaves and the wild grass with a fine spray of what could pass for a smoke.

It was a breath taking moment, to catch the clouds coming down for a kiss. Ever since Ino could remember she had loved clouds, watching them form shapes-cabbage roses, furry kittens, a reclining mermaid, fish and boats – or waiting for them to drop like genuflecting angels.

She smiled as thoughts of her boyfriend who also share this hobby of cloud watching came to mind. The breeze blew thin strands of cold and Ino folded her arms across her chest remembering last week news about the long and bitter winter that had gripped Mist country. Shikamaru was there and was probably suffering from the freezing cold. Why didn't he call her? Could he be unwell?

Ino decide to go into the house the fog was beginning to shroud everything; there would be nothing left to see. The house was warm and she knew where much of it was coming from. Her mother and favorite aunt were in the kitchen, cooking up a storm of a Valentine's Day lunch for them.

Her brother Deidara would be home soon along with their first cousins Hime and Ayu and lunch would be heavy and full of chatter. Deidara would be the only man in the house, but he had grown up so used to the fact that he could even engage in gossip like a woman. Aside from the fact that he gets mistaken as one half the time.

Ino went to her room and checked if the dress she was going to wear tonight needed any pressing. Taking it out of her closet she saw that there was no need. That was the beauty of cotton corduroy that it could keep its shape despite being hemmed in by so many other dresses hanging.

It was strange how time flew, for it seemed only last week, not four months ago, she last wore this dress on a night out with Shikamaru before he went to leave for Mist the next day. For some reason he didn't like the dress very much because he told her not to wear it again. But tonight she was going to have herself a good time at the party and she was going to wear her black dress and Shikamaru - well, Shikamaru could shiver in Mist country for all she cared.

She was not very familiar with the Uchiha family, in whose mansion the party would be held tonight, but in Konoha, if you did not go to a party on Valentine's Day, there was nothing else to do. Especially with Shikamaru away. She could not even think of going to the movies or dining out alone. Her mother, her aunt and cousins were fun, sure, but on Valentine's one did not date old women or little girls.

Only Deidara could be of any use to her tonight, which is why she had consented to go with him to the party. As Deidara had told her, "I may not be Shikamaru, but I'm here. And he's not. And you don't want to stay home on Valentine's, do you?"

The Uchiha mansion that was perched on top of a hill glowed as their car approached. There were chains and chains of light bulbs garlanding the tiered garden, so that even now at nine o'clock past, the visitors could see the infinite colors of the flowers that adorned the front of the house. Ino had never been this close to the house before, although Deidara had on occasions picked up one of his friends, Itachi, the eldest son of the Uchihas, from the gate.

"Here we are little sis." Deidara said as he parked the car on the drive way.

Brother and sister crossed the threshold and found the party in full swing.

"I know you're going to look for the girls I will too, but after I find Sasori and the others, yeah," he said.

"Have a nice time." Ino squeezed his hand gratefully before Deidara disengaged in search for his friends and his own kind of girls. Ino knew that for sure, she would meet some of the barrage of girls who were always calling up the house for Deidara, but would she be able to place their faces with their voices? She doubts it.

She saw Sakura admiring the view of the garden from the window in the living room and headed towards her.

"You haven't met our hosts yet have you?" the pinkette asked after hugging Ino.

When Ino shook her head, Sakura took her hand and lead her to the music room, leaving her boyfriend with two drinks in his hands.

"Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha, this is my friend Ino Yamanaka." Sakura began.

Ino nodded as she was introduced. She felt very shy in the couple's presence, for the room was fully carpeted, and on the walls hung exquisite portraits. It was opulent this room that now reeked of musk-oil perfume, it was almost suffocating making Ino want to get away.

"Make yourself at home," Mr. Uchiha said with a smile upon his lips which was a great contrast to his sad eyes. Mrs. Uchiha did not say anything, though she kept a bland smile on her face.

"Yes, we will thank you," Ino said and hurriedly turned on her heels, making what she thought was a painfully graceless gesture.

Once they were back in the living room where the window looked out into the lighted garden, and Sakura reunited with her boyfriend and her drink, Ino wandered off by herself. She would look for Hinata, who had no boyfriend in that way the two of them could keep each other company in this house full of strangers.

Fresh flowers where everywhere. They stood in vases, squatted in ikebana dishes or were massed in glass bowls. It seemed like there were more flowers than guest, but Ino loved flowers and was happy that there were so many of them. Hinata was nowhere to be seen and although Ino saw a few familiar faces in the crowd she preferred to explore the beautiful house.

She has heard that Mrs. Uchiha had a collection of Venetian blown glass and guessed that it must be on the second floor. She had not seen it in the music room, so there must be a special room on the second floor where it was being kept under lock and key.

Something told Ino Mrs. Uchiha would not mind a guest going all over her house to appreciate the rich and sumptuous furnishings; and besides she knew for a fact that collectors were always showing off their collections. There would be no harm looking for Mrs. Uchiha's glass figurines.

The stairway had a magnificent sweep upwards. It had an old-fashioned balustrade and every so many steps a pot of white shasta daises marked the way. Ino was reminded of a church wedding but now as she went up the stairs her attention was called by the chandelier that hung directly overhead. The glass baubles looked like they were ready to tinkle, if a breeze would but blow and necklaces of cut-glass the shape of diamonds entwined the stems that held the light. Ino guessed the chandelier was also Venetian-made, at least seventy years old.

From the stairwell, Ino enjoyed a busy view of the party going on one floor below. Men and women moved contentedly and although the music coming from the terrace was a bit too loud for her, it provided a sense of pulsating rhythm, making the house come alive with a vigor and youthfulness that Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha had lost.

She saw glimpses of her brother who seemed to be desperately hiding from Tobi. Ino laughed silently while pondering her brother's predicament. He always has to deal with unwanted attention, be it from either male or female. And Tobi was ever so persistent.

She also saw Sasori and Itachi with the rest of their group laughing by the terrace; they clearly were having fun tonight. She continued up the stairs. There was no one but her on the second floor and because it was brightly lighted, she had the feeling that any moment now someone would come out of one of those doors and join her for a polite but fleeting conversation. On a marble-topped, semicircular table pushed against the wall, a Ming bowl held a cluster of yellow roses, the only flowers up there.

The hallway that turned to the left led to the bedrooms, Ino presumed. To the right facing each other, were two rooms with double doors. Ino thought one of these must be where Mrs. Uchiha keeps her glass collection.

Feeling like a thief, Ino tiptoed towards the two rooms, the doors were carved with a scroll design around the border in the east room. The doors were not locked and gave obediently when she turned the knob and slowly pushed them open. Like the rest of the house, the room was lighted, but unlike the rest of the house, it was empty and bare. The carpet was rolled to one side; there were no chairs or tables except a stool on which someone had stood to clean the walls, no doubt.

The alcove lights blazed with an intensity that, because of the emptiness, seemed unreal. Ino felt like an intruder and hurriedly left, closing the door softly behind her. She would try the next room.

It was locked. The knob rattled a metallic sound and Ino turned to leave. But just as she was about to walk away, another click sounded and she looked back to see a young man behind the door.

"Come in." he invited her.

"I'm sorry I disturbed you." Ino said hesitantly. "I didn't mean-"

"No you're not disturbing me" the handsome young man with dark brooding eyes answered. "Come in you must. This is the best room in the house. Mother's prized collection is in here."

He ushered her to the room as a flood of questions went through Ino's mind. He had said 'mother' referring to Mrs. Uchiha, yet she was certain that the Uchihas had only two sons. Who was he? How did he know that she was looking for the glass collection? Where did he come from? Why was he not downstairs? What was she doing up here with a strange man?

"As you can see, it's all here." he said proudly, pointing to the shelves and etageres that held the precious figurines. Some gleamed like cut rubies, glittered like multifaceted diamonds, still others reposed in velvet boxes like crown jewels.

Ino blinked her eyes there were bud vases, bowls, candelabra, there were tiny animals, bouquets of glass flowers and row upon row of paper weights blooming with myriad rainbows shining through the thick but clear glass.

"That chandelier, do you like it? It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked her, his eyes penetrating her with a fierceness that she had never experience before, not even when Shikamaru was cross with her.

She tried to meet his gaze, knowing that no matter how hard she tried, she could not.

"Are you Itachi's brother?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm Sai I come between Itachi and Sasuke." He answered looking intently at her. "Are you from here?"

"Yes, we live on the outskirts of town. Itachi and my brother are classmates." she said. "How come I never heard about you?"

"Well… we all have our mysteries" he said with a sly smile. "If you're not in a hurry to go downstairs would you mind staying with me for awhile? I get lonely. The room across the hall used to be mine until…"

He let the words trial off, disappearing in to the thin air as silence loomed in the space between them. The words drifted into the walls, absorbed by the pale but heavy satin drapes that emphasized the fragility of the entire collection.

Strangely, Ino was not afraid. She felt drawn to him. He was fairer than Itachi and just as good-looking, and she noticed how slim his fingers were, how fine the skin on his hands. It made Ino wonder if he was an artist.

He watched her as she studied each object in the collection. She saw him watching her and acknowledged it with a timid smile.

Before long they were talking like they were old friends, and she did not resist when he held her hands, cupping them between his like a bird that he must not let fly away.

"You have not heard about me because I have been away a long time." he said.

"It really doesn't matter." Ino said, remembering Shikamaru and how much longer he would have to be away. "If as you said all of us have our mysteries, we must also have our coming and going."

She warmed up to his touch and his voice carried an effortless depth of sincerity. But it was his eyes that disturbed her. They were the eyes of an ascetic, or they were the eyes of a dreamer who knows that his dreams will never come true.

"You know, I could fall in love with you." He said abruptly and Ino was unprepared for the sudden declaration. "I have never had a girl. It must be nice to fall in love and stay in love. Have you been in love before?"

Ino blushed. "Yes I have a boyfriend. It's a beautiful feeling to be in love." She looked down at her hands and fidgeted with them.

He took them in his hands again, stroked her fingers one by one, like he was plucking petals from a flower.

"By the way its Valentine's today isn't it?" he asked.

"Yes it is, maybe that's why you're feeling lonely." She wanted to reassure him, to tell him there was nothing wrong being lonely.

But he was kissing her cheek now, tenderly at first like a boy kissing his mother or his sister, perfunctorily and without much feeling. When she did not fight him, his hand reached for her shoulders, pulling her close to him. One hand went to her chin, positioning it for a kiss that bloomed on her lips like a dew-drenched flower.

He released her and did not speak, but his eyes – those dark, brooding, fierce, pained eyes - traveled from her face to her hands.

"I will show you out and down the stairs." He said, as if he had come to the end of their acquaintance and found cause to dismiss her. "But I will not forget you, Saya."

"I am not Saya. I am Ino."

"It doesn't matter, Saya or Ino or whoever you are…" he said with a hard edge to his words. "…we will not meet again. You see, they are sending me back to the institution tomorrow."

Ino stared at him, her eyes widening like ripples in a dark pool. But before she could ask him to explain, Mr. Uchiha was upon them, coming towards them up the staircase.

"Sai is a patient in a mental hospital, Ms. Ino." he said. "Once in a while, during his lucid spells, his doctors allow him to come home and spend some time with us. But it is never for more than three days. I am sorry if you have been frightened."

"No, no, I was not frightened." she said uncertainly, as her eyes followed Sai heading back to the room. "In fact, he was very good company."

She took the hand Mr. Uchiha offered her and they went down the stairs wordlessly.

Tears began to well in her eyes, and for as long as Sai would care to remember her, either as Saya or Ino, she will not forget him either.

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