I must apologize for taking so long to update this story, but I can assure you that I know where this is going so it will be faster for me to update.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything my Masashi Kishimoto; I only own my own OC(s) that may appear in this story.
*Sasuke's point of view*
All the new girl did was sit there, her hands folded on top of her lap and her eyes locked on Iruka-sensei; it was like she was a robot. A lot of guys are already fawning over her but it seemed like she didn't even notice it; was she blind AND deaf? The lunch bell went off and I stand up, not even bothering to look at her or any of the fan girls that flocked around me; I was about to walk past her to the stairs when someone slams through the door, scaring everyone but me and the new kid.
"AMI-CHAN~!" His voice was loud and doting, I didn't like him already; with wild black hair he had expressive blue eyes, wearing a ninja outfit that said he was at least a Jounin. I glance at the new kid, noticing that she had looked up from her desk to see the male; her expression never changed from its pitiful look. "You forgot your lunch at home, silly!"
Standing up she walks past me without a single glance and starts to walk down the stairs where the male was dancing in place, waving a bento box around as if it was an offering to a god; god I really don't like him. She stops in front of him, staring at him until he calms down and sinks to his knees before her; at least she was able to shut him up.
I start to walk down the steps, I was weirdly aware of how the guys talked about how pretty she was and how the girls started talking badly about her. I was almost down the steps completely when her voice stops me dead in my tracks.
"Toga." She spoke to her father as if she was his equal, she didn't even say anything like thank you, just his name; what the heck?
"Ami-Chan, you should be careful not to forget your lunch; what if I had gone on a mission?" The father was scolding the girl, but at the same time he wasn't; it was strange. "Understand?"
"Yes." There it was again, another one-worded answer; didn't she have any respect for her elders. I walk past them, glancing at them when I reached the door; I saw how he smiled at her and how her expression never changed from its sorrowful set.
"Have you made friends yet?"
"No."
"It's okay, are you understanding everything Iruka-sensei is saying?" This was interesting, I kind of wanted to know if she did; all she did in class was sit and watch, not even an attempt at taking notes.
"Completely." She blinks slowly, like an owl, before taking the bento box gently from his hands and taking a step back. The father laughs, running a hand through his wild hair before standing up.
"Okay, okay, I'll go back to work. You be safe, okay? I'll come and pick you up after school so wait by the swing out front." She nods but doesn't speak anymore and that's when I take my cue to leave for my usual lunch hideout.
After finishing his lunch Sasuke started to walk back to class, purposely ignoring the girls who stood off to the side of the hallway giggling to each other; they were probably talking about him. He took the stairs that went down and stuffed one of his hands into his pocket, the other carrying the bento box that once held his lunch. Finally reaching the first floor he froze when he heard a small sound, as if someone was setting something down gently. Tilting his head ever so slightly he waits for the sound to come again, wanting to know where the source was.
Another small sound and he turns around; the sound was directly behind him but no one was walking down the steps. Frowning he looks around the steps and finally notices a small area besides the stairs, no one ever really went that way because it led to nowhere. Stepping into the small area he noticed that there was a small room under the stairs directly, and inside that room sat the new girl.
She looks up at him as if she was expecting him to say something; sitting in the far corner on her knees a plain white handkerchief laid before her with her black bento box on top. A rice ball was poised in front of her mouth with plain black chopsticks, obviously she was about to take a bite out of it before Sasuke had showed up. Setting the rice ball down she settles her hands on top of her lap before tilting her head ever so slightly.
"Yes?" Her single word caused his shoulders to straighten and his chin to rise slightly; Kami he hated her one-word responses. Opening his mouth to respond he suddenly snaps it shut, not knowing what to say. A minute, maybe two, of silence caused him to look away, a very unnoticeable blush on his cheeks. He turns to walk away, suddenly glancing over his shoulder with a frown.
"Lunch is almost over, don't be late to class." Although his voice obviously said he 'didn't care' something about her made he want to make sure she didn't get in trouble. Maybe it was because she only spoke in one word responses. She blinks once, twice, three times before dipping her head in a slight bow; when she looks up at him her face still remained passive but he though he saw something flash across her eyes other than sorrow.
"Arigatō." Her voice didn't betray what she was thinking and his spine seemed to straighten before he grunts, looking away quickly and leaving her to her small room. She blinks again, watching his back disappear before looking down at her food; slowly she picks her chopsticks back up and returns to eating.
She didn't come back for the second half of the class; he could hear the mumbles of the other students as they glanced at her empty seats. He couldn't help but scowl, covering it up by hiding his face behind entwined fingers; He even told her to not be late for class! As soon as the bell sounded he was out of his seat and down the steps before the other students could stand. Stalking towards the stairs to check the last place he had seen her he wasn't expecting the sight before him.
Although there wasn't much light what was seemed to make her glow with otherworld beauty. Her head rested against the wall, her long white eyelashes brushes against her cheeks as she breathed slowly; she was obviously asleep and he took a step back from shock. She still sat in the position she was in when he last saw her but one hand held onto her chopsticks, the small rice ball sitting on her lap; it looked like she had suddenly fallen asleep as she was eating. He grunts, slipping into the small room when he heard footsteps coming towards them.
Tilting his head he listened as students of all ages filtered out of the building to go home for the day, his eyes never leaving the new girl's angelic face. He frowns when he realizes that he wasn't paying attention when she was introduced this morning, he had no idea what her name was. When the last of the steps passed him he reaches out and swipes her chopsticks, there was no way he would touch her. Poking her forehead with the end of said chopsticks he watches as she frowns delicately, her eyes tightening shut before slowly opening to look at him.
The normal sadness was absent and he blinks with shock, they looked so innocent but after blinking away her sleepiness sadness seemed to seep into those deep blue pools until he couldn't tell if he had imagined the innocence.
"You missed class, New Girl." He grunts, looking away before dropping her chopsticks on top of her bento. She blinks slowly before nodding, out of the corner of his eye he watched as she packs up her unfinished lunch and crawls out of the space. He follows her and stepping out into the sun he shields his eyes with one hand, unable to frown at how she didn't even squint at the sudden brightness.
"Why did you fall asleep?" For some reason he was curious, maybe if he asked her to explain he would get more than a single word response.
"Tired." She responds much to his distaste and he grunts, looking away from her.
"There has to be more to it than that." Another try, maybe.
"Nope." She walks down the steps, heading across the road towards the lone swing that her father told her to wait for. He follows, his eyes narrowing at her unresponsive attitude. Didn't she know who she was talking to? Girls would give anything to have him look at them, why didn't she respond? Didn't she care to be popular?
"Are you waiting for your father?" He leans against the tree as she sits on the swing. She looks up at him, her eyes filled with more sorrow than before; did he ask a wrong question?
"No." That wasn't the response he was looking for. Tilting his head ever so slightly he studies her face before looking up at the sky.
"Didn't your dad tell you to wait out here after school for him?" She blinks again, he saw it out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help but inwardly smirk. It looks like he had caught her at a lie.
"Toga?" There was that disrespectful talk again.
"Yeah, isn't he your dad?"
"No." Woops, he blinks again; he wasn't expecting that answer.
"Then where's your dad?" He turns to face her but she wasn't looking at him, instead her deep eyes were looking up at the sky.
"Dead." He blinks again, he definitely wasn't expecting that answer.
"So… Your mom's dating Toga?" He was trying to make sense of this; if Toga wasn't her dad then that means he's with her mom to be bringing her lunch… or maybe he was an older brother? They both had deep blue eyes.
"No." He frowns again; he really wanted her to stop all this 'one-word response' and just explain it to him. Opening his mouth he was about to ask her something else but her gaze stopped him and his mouth snaps shut. "Dead." She repeats, her deep eyes blinking slowly once before shifting them to look up at the sky.
"Your mom too?" He gulps; both of her parents were dead so that meant Toga was her guardian, which would explain why she didn't call him 'dad'.
She nods slowly before looking up over at him, "Yeah…" He pushes off the tree and steps towards her, ready to say something that he normally didn't say but was interrupted again when some loud voice called her name energetically.
"Ami-Chan!" Both of them look towards the noise and watches without amusement as Toga rushes towards her, tripping once to fall on his face but quickly jumping back up and running at a slower pace; man, Sasuke really didn't like him. "Ami-Chan, you made a new friend!" Both children blink before looking at each other; were they considered friends? He didn't even know her name until Toga had ran up to them.
"Uh-" Sasuke tried to respond but was stopped when Ami stood up and stepped between Sasuke and Toga.
"Home." She demanded, completely side tracked her guardian from inquiring about their new, probably nonexistent, friendship.
"Ah, yes, yes. We'll go home; you'll never guess what I did while you were at school." The messy haired Jounin places his hand on top of her head for a fraction of a second before slipping said hand behind his back; Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly. "Oh, how was class, by the way?"
"Fine." She turns to look at Sasuke, her eyes betraying none of the feelings she may have been felt at that moment. She nods her head as a farewell before turning and walking away, followed by Toga like the lost puppy he might have been.
"Goodbye, Uchiha-Kun!" Toga calls out, waving goodbye before sweeping Amin up into his arms and jumping away, leaving said Uchiha alone. He grunts once before turning and walking home, there was no way he would admit that he was momentarily worried that her guardian didn't like her from that one simple touch. That Toga man was obviously a doting parent even if they weren't blood.
*Normal Point of View*
When Toga sat Ami down when they got home he was slightly happy that he had worn a long sleeve, even though their skin didn't touch he could still feel the cold burn that radiated off of her. Unlocking the door he steps aside so Ami could walk in, he smiles brightly before closing the door behind him, flipping the lock out of habit.
"This way~ This way!" He says brightly, taking her hand and tugging her forward before dropping it suddenly; for a second he forgot about the burns but as soon as he touched her the aching throb of freezer burn reminded him. "I want to show you what I did while you were at school!" He declares, his voice not betraying his pain.
Ushering her forward he takes her towards the office door, which was suspiciously closed. He grins down at her, slightly hurt that she didn't share in his excitement, before opening the door and stepping aside. He had painted the walls a dark shade of gray, black and white abstract swirls dancing across the paint as if they had a life of their own. The floor was wood and the ceiling was completely black excluding the white dots that were probably meant to represent stars. The queen size bed was against the window, its comforter black with swirls of gray and white while the sheets and pillow cases were gray with white stars. There were white curtains on the window, with a black sheet that seemed to dull the brightness of the sun a bit.
She steps into the room and looks away with unemotional eyes; taking in the dark wood that the bed, as well as the matching desk, was made out of. Said desk was pressed against the wall that separated the room and the hallway; it already had a black lamp sitting on the desk for use, as well as a black cup that held writing utensils. There was the door on the far wall, a plain white door that, if she must guess, led to her closet and to the right of the bed was a night stand, another black lamp sitting on it; she looked and a matching nightstand sat on the left of the bed too.
"Well do you like it?" Toga couldn't keep the anticipation from his voice, he hoped she liked it. Turning to him she bows, her hands pressed against his legs. He blinks; he wasn't expecting her to bow so suddenly, taking a step back he blinks again before a slow blush took to his cheeks.
"Arigatō." The blush on his cheeks deepened and he pats her on the head quickly before turning and walking to the kitchen.
"Well… yes, you're welcome." He pokes his head out of the entry way to look at her bowed form. "But do you like it?" She looks up at him slowly before turning her sad eyes to the room that he had made hers.
"Yes…" Her voice, what was normally blank of emotion, was purely genuine in its response and Toga grins.
"Well then! Let's have a celebration to your new room and your first day at school, Ami-Chan!" Turning his back on her to cook dinner he didn't notice the small smile that touched her lips, the smile that held so much sadness that matched her eyes, before she closed her new room's door and went into the kitchen to help him.
That night, after they had cleaned the mess they had made from cooking, Ami walks out of the bathroom wearing one of her new favorite nightgown. Exiting his room Toga notices the nightgown and another blush touches his cheeks.
"Ah, Ami-Chan, I bought you some new nightgowns… why are you wearing that?" She looks up at him, a faint white eyebrow rising in question, although he didn't see it due to her bangs. She looks down at the black shinobi shirt he had first given her and then looks up at him, blinking once to show her confusion.
He looks away, blushing, "Ami-Chan… Why are you wearing my shirt?" She looks down at it again before shrugging one shoulder.
"Because." It sounded so obvious that he sighs in defeat.
"Fine… but only for tonight." He gives her a glare that held no heat. "Okay?"
"No." She turns her back on him and enters her room, leaving him with his mouth hanging open.
"A-Ami-Chan!" He whines, following her into the room and watching as she crawled under the comforter before sitting up and pushing it all the way to the end of the bed, leaving her under a very thin sheet. That seemed to remind him of something because he suddenly leaves before coming back and tossing her the pack of frozen peas. "Oh, here, I froze them again so they should be as good as they were last night." She blinks before picking up the pack that had landed next to her knees and hugged it close.
"I'm going to turn the thermostat down to 52 again, okay? It seemed like you slept well with it at that temperature so I for now on we'll leave it there at night, okay?" She nods before lying down on her side, her body curling around the frozen object. He smiles faintly before closing the door, leaving it barely open. "Goodnight, Ami-chan."
He smiles again when he hears a faint 'goodnight' coming from her before fiddling with the thermostat and headed towards bed. Sitting down on his bed he stares at the wall, his smile slowly vanishing to leave a concerned frown; the conversation with the Hokage only made him more aware of Ami and his desire to protect her seemed to grow.
I would like to thank fanficisawsome for posting a review, thanks to her I was able to have sudden inspiration towards the story and was able to finish the next chapter. Thank you again, Miss. fanficisawsome, you're an awesome reader.
