Well, here's chapter 2! Hope you liked chapter one enough to keep reading. it gets better, trust me:3 But, in the meantime while I'm readying the other chapters, you can entertain yourself with this:3 This is chapter 2 out of 18 of ROA. And, my friends, I must now present:

"ROA2: The Calling"

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Gai woke the day after Hinata's ankle injury to a beam of hot sunlight creeping slowly through his un-covered window. He held up the blankets over his head and grunted in anguish at the light gracing his cheeks. At a desperate attempt to get out of his large bed without greeting the sunlight again, he crawled slowly down under his blankets and rolled off the tall mattress. He failed miserably, hitting the wooden floor with a sleepy thud. "Ow" was the only sleepy word that escaped his chapped lips. He looked back at the large bed as he stood up and noticed the wet stain his rain-soaked clothes had caused. He chose not to worry about a silly water stain for the moment and kept on with his daily routine.

He creeped out of the bedroom and into the dark bathroom. As he turned on the lights, he studied the sterile, white features in the small, square room. Gai stripped out of his clothes and readied a hot shower. If anyone was to see Gai in his newly found, sleepy, weak, unusually thin, and pale state, they would have not known it was Gai. As he slowly stepped inside the hot shower, steam quickly filled the room.
As he stood there, Gai closed his heavy eyelids and nearly fell over, almost falling back to sleep as the hot water pelted against his thin back. He opened his eyes to see just how skinny he really was. It made his eyes widen in shock and fright. He had not really paid attention to it before, but he was getting awfully skinny!

He and Hinata had barely eaten at all in a month. Maybe a snack or two a day such as a few strawberries or a bowl of cereal or two, if they were lucky enough to stomach it. Eating any more made them sick with grief or discust.

He stood there for about ten more minutes, letting the water run over his pale form and nearly lull him to sleep twice more.
He climbed out of the shower and dried himself, wrapped himself from the waist down with his white towel and walked into the next room, meeting only darkness. The only other life he could see in the large living room was Hinata's bony hand laying over the edge of the couch lifelessly, almost deathly.
Gai walked over to the green couch and leaned over her content face to watch her sleep; almost as if making sure she was still alive.

Her lips were slightly parted and her long eyelashes positioned themselves against her pale cheeks in complete contrast. Her dark, short hair flailed against the pillow almost playfully. Still, he could see her chest rising and falling, at least she was still alive. Thank God.

Gai peered over to the clean laundry he had brought in earlier from the laundry room next door and walked silently over to it. He took out a pair of green boxers, black sweat pants, a black shirt, and a pair of old white socks to wear with his white tenis-shoes.

He sighed as he got dressed, stumbling a few times in the darkness. He peered over his bony sholder to look at the sleeping girl while putting on his pants. He sighed in relief when he heard her stirr and turn over.

Hinata was throbbing with pain. Her left ankle was throbbing with extreme pain especially, and it felt detatched from her leg. Her ivory eyes shot open and she was greeted with darkness.

"Gai... sens...sensei?" She whispered. Gai ran to the girl in the process of putting on his shirt over his thin upper body.

"Hinata... are you alright? Do you need anything? Do you need a crutch?" he asked, running to get a lone wooden crutch from the edge of the nearest wall in the apartment. Gai laid it next to where Hinata had slept. Her eyes seemed blank and she was unresponsive.

Gai stared at her. After a few silent moments, Hinata sat up, glanced quietly at the older man, grabbed the crutch, stood up, and limped into the bathroom. The pain was unbearable, but she had to go into the bathroom, and she didn't know why.

It was like a silent song ringing in her ears, telling her to go to the bathroom. Just to walk into the bathroom.

Gai just stood there and watched as she walked away. She stood in the white bathroom and turned on the blinding lights. Usually, the bathroom was a warm place. Normally, the entire apartment was a warm place. Normally, just the entire apartment building was a warm, friendly place, overall! But now, it felt cold and empty, and Hinata was beginning to feel as if she was being watched, all the time, by an invisable force that followed her everywhere. It made her so paranoid.
She looked blankly around the room and studied its features. Every ivory curve and point felt unreal, almost like it wasn't really there, like it was all in her head. Her eyes widened.

Gai stood in the living room, staring at the door to the bathroom. It had closed only moments before. Suddenly, hot tears welled up in his eyes, spilled over and trickled down his cheeks. First Lee, his precious person, dies, then Hinata beomes unresponsive even to his calls and pleas for some type of conversation. He couldn't bear it. He felt so alone and vunerable and worried, all at once.

He slumped down onto the couch and waited for the bathroom door to open again, sobbing uncontrolably in the process. He tried his best to keep his sobs quiet.
Hinata stood in the bathroom and listened intently to the silence. She wandered over to the clear mirror and looked at her pale, skinny reflection. Was this really Hinata Hyuga? She reached forward and touched her fingers to the glass, racing the bony extensions over the cold surface as it mirrored her movement.

"WHY!?" screamed Gai in the next room. He had finally cracked. She was fixed back to reality and jumped to the sound of his scream. Hinata felt someone, somewhere, had just cursed at the fact that her concentration had been broken.

Hinata took the crutch and walked into the next room to see Gai on the floor, rolled into the fetal position. He screamed again. She just stood there, entranced in his sobs. She stared at him shaking on the floor. Just stared.

The next few days had been spent like any previous day in their small apartment. Both, this time, though, had felt strangely drawn to the mirror in the bathroom. This time, it was Gai's turn.

Gai stood in front of the mirror and stared at his own reflection, crying into the sink below him. He had been crying uncontrolably for days. He was beginning to feel that his tears were drying up. It had been a few days since his mental breakdown in the living room, and he had clearly not yet recovered. He tried to calm himself down, washing off his face in the cold water. He looked back up at himself in the mirror.

Behind him, stood the person he wanted to be there most.

Lee.

Gai couldn't move as the boy just smiled at him, clad in a small hospital robe. He just stood there, in a pale prision called skin, and smiled at Gai.
All Gai could do is reach forward. His fingertips gracing the glass around Lee's white face. He just stared in silence, being entranced in the reflection.

'Your dead!'

Gai thought, his eyes widened and his fingers shaking.

"Gai-sensei" Lee spoke in a feminine voice. Gai turned to see Hinata staring at him, where Lee should have been. Gai just studied her. Was he beginning to halucinate?

"Is there something the matter, Gai-sensei?" Hinata calmly asked. Gai turned around to look at himself in the mirror.

'I'm going crazy...I must be... crazy...'

Gai thought, a shiver of fear running down his spine. He glanced at the mirror again, only to see a scarlet liquid force and drip itself to the sink. The mirror was... bleeding? He reached forward in a desperate attempt to see Lee again. His hand fused into the mirror, as if reaching into water. He took his hand back out and studied the wet, warm, blood that now covered his hand.

"Hinata.. can you see that?" Gai asked.

"See what? All you did was touch the mirror.. nothing special..." Hinata shrugged, worry creeping into the back of her mind.

'I wonder what's wrong with Gai-sensei... I hope he's alright...'

She thought as he called to her.

"Hinata... come here..." Gai whispered as she closed in on him. He pressed his fingers against the glass and closed his eyes. Hinata couldn't believe what she saw! Gai's hand was sinking into the mirror, and out around his hand, blood poured out from the glassy exterior. Hinata gasped and hugged onto him tightly. She closed her eyes with Gai...

They opened their eyes, only to be greeted by complete darkness.

...to be continued

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So, how do you like it so far? I hope its sufficent enough.. I always thought this was a pretty boring chapter.. but you'll be relieved to know that it gets into the story very quickly.. like... next chapter:3 So, everyone, emjoy and wait for chapter 3:3

-Lauren :3