Enigma

Chapter Four

-Instruction-

Sanosuke stared at the door to Talia's apartment from his vantage point across the street. So far there had been no sign of movement. Her mother had left about two hours ago to go to work, but Talia had yet to emerge, or even open any of the windows. But why? Was she like his mother in that she enjoyed sleeping in as late as possible when allowed? It was Sunday, after all, and school would resume for the week tomorrow.

He waited for another hour, even staying hidden in the tree as he ate the sandwich he had made for himself early this morning. He'd left his parents a note on the fridge that he would be out in the village today, learning, but not training.

What Talia had said yesterday had made him think. He knew he wasn't very sociable, and on top of that, he sucked at being friends with someone. He only had one friend, and already he was having difficulty in keeping them.

But he wanted to stay friends with her. She was very interesting, not to mention normal. Having a normal person amongst all of the crazy ones in his family would be a welcome change. Talia could teach him about civilians and other things about the world that he would never be able to learn as a ninja, no matter how hard he tried. All in all, she would be a great asset to his life.

That was another reason why he was here. He was going to ask her to teach him how to be normal, like her. Or at least try. And while they did this, their bond as friends would grow, and she would want to continue to hang out with him. Because if he lost her as a friend his mother would kill him, not to mention be very disappointed in him. And he couldn't handle that.

His senses came to alert then when the door to Talia's apartment opened and the blonde stepped out. She closed and locked the door, before heading down the steps. Sanosuke dropped from the tree branch he was on, landing on his feet before walking over to the entrance of her building, meeting her there just as she reached the bottom. "Teach me." He said by way of greeting, startling the young girl.

Talia jumped slightly from the instant invasion of her space, but as she took note of who it was, she smiled. "Hey Sanosuke."

"Teach me." he repeated.

The blonde blinked, growing confused. "Teach you what?"

"You know…how to be…" He shifted a bit in embarrassment, "friendly. And stuff."

"Well you could start by not creeping on people's houses." she smirked, setting her hands on her hips.

His blank façade returned, though it was marred with confusion. "Yesterday when I asked if you wanted to hang out today or if you had plans, you said, 'we'll see'. So I waited here in order to see." He said matter-of-factly. "You also said you would see me later, and today is later. I was simply following instructions, not creeping."

She arched a curious brow and was clearly trying not to laugh, "Yeah but you don't sit in a tree watching their house."

Sanosuke's mouth dropped open slightly in surprise. "How did you know I was in the tree? I made sure to conceal myself adequately."

"Well it is my tree after all, I think I would know when it looked different or not." she huffed, not bothering to conceal her triumph. "Just cause' I'm not a ninja doesn't mean I can't be mega awesome." Talia said, breaking into a fit of giggles.

"Well," he huffed, glancing off before returning his deep gaze to her. "Can you teach me to be more normal or not?" he crossed his arms.

The blonde rolled her eyes and pushed his arms down so they were hanging at his sides. "First lesson, stop crossing your arms. It makes you look guarded and, thus, unapproachable."

He frowned. This was going to be harder than he thought. "What else?"

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. This was definitely going to be an exhausting day. "Alright let's get to a more convenient location." Talia smiled, taking Sanosuke's hand and leading him off into the village. They came to a slow once they reached the busy market plaza, where kids played and drew in the middle of the square, and adults shopped around to prepare meals for the night. "Okay Sano, this…is a social gathering." She gestured to all the shops, restaurants, and café's. "You see how everyone is not only busy, but happy. The villager's chit chat with the vendors, kids play with their friends, people meet for lunch and catch up."

"So they're wasting time." He stated, watching everyone.

Talia's hand fell and she looked back at Sanosuke with a somewhat annoyed frown. "So it's a waste of time to see people you love?"

"But why would you talk to the vendors?" he asked, genuinely confused. "Wouldn't you want to just buy what you came for and leave, therefore minimizing the time it would take to finish your errands?"

She hit him over the head and gave him a hard glare. "No! It's nice to talk with people and ask how they are doing. When you extend friendly words, it makes people feel good about themselves. Making people happy and feel good about themselves is a good thing. Because it makes you feel good."

He gave her a light glare and rubbed his head. "So how does one go about doing such a thing?"

"Just walk up to someone, smile and say 'Hi', it's that easy." She smiled and then glanced around. "Here, I'll show you." Talia walked off then and headed towards a small fruit stand. She smiled as she came to a stop and looked over the produce. "How are you doing today, Nana-sama? Everything looks so yummy!"

"Oh Talia!" the older woman smiled back, appearing pleased. "I am wonderful. My little grandbaby started walking the other day. He's getting so big."

The blonde girl laughed. "I'm sure he is, that's good to hear. Well you have a nice day! I'll see you later." She waved as she walked back to Sanosuke. "See, easy."

The young Uchiha pouted slightly and crossed his arms. "Easy for you." he said. Then he remembered his first lesson and let his arms fall to his sides. "I don't even know any of these people."

"Then just go and buy some fruit and strike up a conversation."

"…you're joking." He deadpanned.

She gave him a warning glance. "Does it look like I'm joking?"

"Well what am I supposed to say?"

Finally she let out a sigh. "Okay, we'll start out easy…so just walk up to a stand…and say…hello. That's it, and smile too."

The look he gave her was an incredulous one. "What? No." he shook his head. "I don't just smile for no reason. And definitely not to someone I don't know. A smile from me is like a gift from above."

Talia simply stared at him. Was he really that vain? She nodded somewhat to herself. He was Natsumi-sama's son. It sounded something like the pink haired assassin would say. That was when an idea struck her and the blonde girl feigned a sigh and somewhat disappointment. "I suppose you're right…I just thought that maybe since you were an Uchiha you could pull off a real fake smile. After all, not every smile is real and genuine, but they are nice. I guess I was just thinking that, like most Uchihas, you'd be able to manipulate someone like that." She shook her head and set her hands on her hips. "Oh well…guess I gave you too much credit."

Sanosuke stepped forward so that their faces were close. "You didn't give me enough credit." He said. "And I'll prove it."

He turned and walked away from her, marching over to the same fruit vendor that Talia had spoken to moments before. He began to smile, though it was tight. No, he needed to be convincing. He was an Uchiha. He knew his older brothers would be able to do this successfully, and so he would too. He relaxed his muscles and smiled one more, clearing his throat. "Hello." He greeted, smiling up at the older woman. "I would like to buy some fruit please."

"Oh my! Well if it isn't little Uchiha Sanosuke!" the woman beamed back, brightening. "How are you doing young man? Following in your mommy's footsteps is what I heard. You were the one to declare you would beat your brothers and sister to Anbu, weren't you?"

His smile actually turned somewhat genuine. "Yes ma'am. I want to become the head of the Anbu when I'm older."

"Well I wish you luck young man, you know that you look just like your grandfather. But you're cute and kind as your mother. You're a lot like Natsumi-sama. I'm sure she's so proud of you." she smiled, grabbing a few strawberries and placing them in a bag. "Here you go sweetie, enjoy a few."

"Thank you." He took the bag from her. "Have a nice day." He said, before turning and walking back over to Talia, who had a smug look on her face. His smile fell a bit. "I'm still not going to do that every time I go out to purchase something." He told her, opening the bag and taking out a strawberry. Then he held it out to her, silently offering her some as he bit into the delicious red fruit.

She took the offered fruit and bit down. "Yummy!" she smiled, clapping her hands together. "But that was amazing. Your smile is so pretty."

He blushed slightly. Then he looked away and crossed his arms. "That's why it's a gift from above." He scoffed as he tried to hide his embarrassment.

Talia blinked and shook her head, pushing his arms down once more. "It's not so cute when you act like a jerk." She frowned.

"Sorry." He said honestly, taking out the last two strawberries and giving her one of them. "Do you want to go walk around the park? We could feed the ducks or something…"

She smiled, taking the strawberry from him. "Okay, but when we get some bread you have to smile and ask the store clerk how they are." Talia snickered, nibbling on her fruit.

"But I don't want to." He whined as they walked towards the bread stand. "Can't I just be polite and not smile?"

"Nope. This is your test for today's subjects." Talia smirked.

He let out a resigned sigh, preparing for his test. The rest of the day he and Talia spent feeding the ducks, and she told him more about being normal and friendly. As the sun began to set, he walked her home before heading back to his own. And when he walked through the door of his home, he went and found his mother in the kitchen finishing dinner.

Natsumi smiled at him over her shoulder. "Hey Sano, how was your day about the village?" she asked.

"Mommy it was terrible." He pouted, hugging her around the waist. "Talia made me smile and be nice to strangers. And then she made me have conversations with them." He told her.

Natsumi blinked, looking down at her son, confused out of her mind. "Huh?"

He looked up at her, but didn't release his hold on her. "I asked her to teach me how to be friendly." He explained. "Being friendly is so much work though. I don't like it."

"Oh sweetheart, of course it's hard. You take after your selfish daddy." She smirked, patting his head and running her fingers through his dark locks.

He stuck out his lower lip in a pout. "Well I'm not making any more friends. Talia is enough." He stated.

"She's a pretty little girl. I like her very much, I'm glad she's your friend Sano." Natsumi smiled, breaking away from him and pushing him towards the door, "Now go wash up for dinner. It's almost ready and your grandfather will be here any minute from training Noriaki. So we'll need a diffuser tonight, and you know Iza and Kanamé only take grandfather's side when it doesn't concern their thirty-three percent."

Sanosuke gave her a small smile. "Yes mommy." He said, turning to go and do what she had instructed.

He was glad that him having a friend made her happy. But he didn't lie when he said that he would only have Talia as a friend. Friends were a lot of work, and it appeared that the blonde would keep him plenty busy when he wasn't training or at school. And how right this assessment would turn out to be.