Whew, I'm so glad it's Wednesday! This is the only reprieve I get these days from Little Shop practice. Speaking of which, I'm now the piano player's official page turner! Okay, so I know it doesn't sound like much, but if I don't turn the page at the right time, the pianist (who just so happens to be my English teacher) won't know what to play. And if she doesn't know what to play, the actors won't know what to do. And if the actors don't know what to do, the play will collapse. And then I'll get a bad grade on my term paper! (Okay, so not really, but still…) So the fate of the play rests on my shoulders! (Or at least, I like to make myself feel important that way…) Power to the page turners!

Important note: After the play (which is weekend after next), I am changing the update schedule for this fic to Mondays and Thursdays!!! Happiness and joy abounds.

Reader review corner!

Anonymous Threat: Yeah, Dei-Dei was being a bit of a brat. But he redeems himself!

SweetPeace: Yeah, she does. Heehee!

Adelaide 'Adell' Peirce: *points to above note* Your wish is my command. Just be patient!

Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own Naruto. If I did, what I wrote wouldn't be fanfiction.

Timeless

By Dandy Wonderous

Chapter 4: Bandaged

Hinata managed to avoid her friends the rest of the day by scooting into class seconds before the bell rang and fleeing the moment class ended. She kept silent the last three periods, head down, and she looked so forlorn that none of her teachers had the heart to rouse her.

Perhaps it was some bizarre masochistic tendency that led her back to her tree at the end of the day. She hid in her customary way, but the art room remained empty. It looked lonely and strange without the clay artist there, filling the room with his bubble of creative muse. Even though he had yelled at her, had crushed the little clay bird-the clay dream-she was depressed that he had forgone the afternoon ritual. At four thirty her watch beeped.

Alone.

Neji noticed her mood the second she climbed into his car at four forty. She slumped into the passenger seat and stared blankly at her lap, ignoring his first two inquiries about her day. On the third try he added a short poke to her arm. She jumped with a little yelp, then turned to look at him in shock. "Wh-what?"

No one else would have noticed, but Hinata saw Neji suck in his cheek and bite it, a sign he was holding back laughter. "I only asked you how your day was. Three times."

"O-oh…" she muttered, eyes returning to the fidgety hands in her lap. "It was… fine."

"No it wasn't," said Neji with a small shake of his head.

Dang it. He just has to be annoyingly perceptive.

"What happened?"

Hinata's brain reeled, trying to find a suitable explanation. Finally, she settled on an alternate version of the truth.

"I… asked a boy to… to go with me to Sakura's party…"

"And I take it he said no."

Hinata nodded. Maybe it's not exactly what happened, but…

"I see," Neji said slowly, thoughtfully. Hinata's eyes stayed glued to her lap, but she could feel his scrutinizing gaze on her. She shrank into her seat.

"Well, don't let it get you down," he said finally, looking back at the road. "There are plenty of fish in the sea."

"Or birds in the air," she muttered.

Why am I here? What am I doing?

Hinata hid behind the tree and stared at the window, shivering slightly as a cool breeze blew through. She knew she shouldn't do this anymore, but she had returned to the spot out of pure habit. Now she watched Deidara, unblinking.

He had returned from his self-imposed exile to the art room that afternoon. Now he sat with his clay, molding it into unusual shapes before, with a disgusted and frustrated look, he squashed it back into a featureless ball. He seemed to find no inspiration today.

To Hinata's horror Deidara, for no apparent reason, suddenly looked out the window. Like before she ducked down behind her wooden guardian and held her breath, heart thundering. After a few minutes, she released the air and slowly turned back to the window.

The art room was empty.

"You're kinda creepy, hmm? Like a stalker, un."

Hinata jumped out of her skin, shrieking in surprise. She hadn't heard the senior sneak up on her.

"Hey, calm down, un! Someone's gonna think I'm raping you or something."

The startled girl took several deep breaths, hand on her heart, and nodded obediently. "Sorry, I… I didn't hear you come up."

He rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly. "Geez, you fold like a lawn chair. I'm surprised you had the guts to steal that bird, un."

"It took me awhile to work up the nerve," she admitted, then clamped a hand over her mouth. What was THAT!?! I might as well just scream, I'm Hinata, the creepy stalker freak!

The visible eyebrow raised. "Hmm? Just how long have you been coming out here, hmm?"

Hinata blushed and stared down at her shoes. "Um… Since the b-beginning of September…"

"Whoa!" He looked shocked. "It's MARCH, you know."

Hinata squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the inevitable; for Deidara to call her a freak and take off running.

But instead…

He chuckled. "So you're really that big a fan of mine, hmm?"

It certainly wasn't what she had expected.

"H-huh?"

"To go to all the trouble to steal a sculpture, and then still watch me after I yell at you, un," he clarified. "You must be a huge fan."

Hinata could only gape in shock and confusion.

"I've never had a fan before," he mused aloud, looking off to the side and talking more to himself than the terrified junior before him.

That I can certainly believe, Hinata thought somewhere in her panicked brain.

"This could be interesting… Hey, I don't even know your name," he suddenly realized, looking slightly annoyed that he hadn't thought of it before.

The girl took a deep breath to calm herself. "It's Hinata… Hinata Hyuga."

"Hyuga? As in THE Hyugas?" Deidara's visible eye widened. "That huge law firm Hyuga Hyugas, un?"

Hinata of the Hyuga Hyugas blushed again. "Y-yeah…"

Deidara rubbed the back of his neck again and whistled. "Wow… I got a high-rolling fan, un…"

"Deidara," Hinata began experimentally.

"Hmm?"

"Why'd you throw your bird?"

He smiled at her, but it seemed… strained. "Because my art is made to be destroyed, that's why, un."

"Huh?"

"It's the natural order of things. It just wouldn't be right for one of my works to last more than one day. And that's all there is to it, un."

Frankly, Hinata didn't get it. Wasn't the point of hardening clay to make it last forever?

She didn't get a chance to ask, though; the incessant beeping of their watches interrupted them.

He glanced down at it, choking back a snicker as hers beeped as well, to her embarrassment. "Looks like I gotta go, creepy stalker rich girl."

Hinata wilted at the nickname. "Oh… Right."

"Hey, don't do that, un!" Deidara said quickly at her depression. "Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you… I just… Aw, you wouldn't get it." He turned to leave.

"Deidara…"

"Hmm?" He stopped and looked back over his shoulder.

"Why… Why did you come talk to me?"

He laughed lightly. "Oh, I was just curious. Like I said, I've never had a fan before." He raised his hand in parting. "See ya later, un!"

Hinata watched, breathless, as he walked away. Then she sank down against the trunk of the tree and sighed, wondering what this strange conversation would mean for her.

"Happy birthday, Sakura," Hinata greeted, holding out the small bag to her friend.

Sakura took it graciously and led the shy girl into her house. Many of their other classmates were there already; Ino, of course, but also Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Shino, and various other juniors, with a few select sophomores added to the mix.

"Naruto's here," Sakura whispered conspiratorially behind her hand. "And you wore that super cute dress! He'll be all over you!"

Hinata doubted it. It was no secret that Naruto had a major crush on her pink haired friend, and it no longer mattered to Hinata, anyway.

"What about Sasuke?" she asked, hoping to switch topics to her friend's love interest instead.

"Not here yet," she answered, deflated. "But he will be; Naruto asked for me and Sasuke said he'd definitely come."

"You and Ino aren't going to spend all night fighting for him, are you?" she asked jokingly.

Sakura smiled coyly. "It's my party, Hinata, and I can flirt if I want to."

The doorbell cut off further conversation as Sakura skipped back to greet her next guests. Her excited voice filled the air, signaling to everyone that her long awaited party go-er had arrived. "Sasuke! Welcome! I'm so glad you could come, and…"

Her voiced trailed off to a squeak as another figure appeared in the doorway. The other man was essentially a taller, more mature version of Sasuke, with long hair held back in a ponytail. He gazed over the eyes of his younger brother and down at the startled girl indifferently.

"Itachi Uchiha," murmured the female guests excitedly.

"But he's in college!"

"Is he coming to the party?"

"He's sooo dreamy!"

"He's not just dreamy, he's HOT!"

The corner of the older Uchiha's mouth twitched into a small smile. "One of my friends asked that I give this," he held out a note to the bewitched Sakura, "to one Hinata Hyuga."

Sakura took the note from him in a daze. "Um, okay… I'll be sure she gets it."

He smiled a little more at her, and Hinata feared her friend would melt into a small puddle on the floor. "Thank you." He punched Sasuke's shoulder playfully. "Have a fun time, little brother! I'll be back to pick you up at eleven." And with that, he was gone.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the dumbstruck host still standing in the doorway and went to join Naruto (who was complaining loudly about the Uchiha's getting all the attention).

Finally, Sakura turned around and handed Hinata the note, eyes glazed.

"No fair!" cried Ino, rushing over to her. "You got to talk to THE Itachi!"

Sakura finally broke her frozen stare to smile smugly. "You snooze, you lose, Ino-pig! Oh, yeah, Hinata, what does the note say?"

The two girls crowded around to read over her shoulder excitedly while Hinata slowly unfolded the piece of paper.

Hinata,

I meant to say, if you want to watch me work, you could always come into the art room. It's more comfortable than that tree, un.

Deidara

"Deidara? That creep? What does he want?" Ino demanded angrily, still sore for her friend's sake over the cafeteria incident.

"And what's all this about a tree?" Sakura asked.

"You're not going to talk to him, right, Hinata?" Ino more commanded than asked.

"Oh, uh… No, no, I won't."

"Good." Ino and Sakura wafted off to flirt with Sasuke and mingle with guests, leaving the slightly trembling girl alone.

She refolded the piece of paper and slipped it into her purse, fully intending to take him up on his offer.

Chapter 4 End

A/N: This is the longest chapter of "Timeless" to date! Woo! They probably only get longer from here.

"Or birds in the air," she muttered.

I was originally going to have Neji say this line because of his bird obsession, but Hinata saying got the desired effect.

"You're kinda creepy, hmm? Like a stalker, un."

I simply couldn't resist having Deidara make this observation. By the way, you probably noticed, but I use a combination of both "hmm's" and "un's" for Deidara.

…Someone's gonna think I'm raping you or something."

My worst fear is being raped… in a K-Mart. Seriously, those places have creepy lighting, like something straight out of a horror movie; I avoid that store like the plague.

"Hyuga? As in THE Hyugas?" Deidara's visible eye widened. "That huge law firm Hyuga Hyugas, un?"

I'm sorry if you don't understand this sentence. It made sense to my brain, but that doesn't say much, considering how crazy I am. Also, I typed "Hyuga" so much it doesn't look like a real word anymore…

The birthday party served essentially three purposes: one, I had mentioned it, so it had to be there. Two, it finished up the first week for our timeline (and deadline… dun dun dun). Three, it gave us a quick glimpse of Itachi for those readers who are Itachi fangirls (*takes cover from stampede*).

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Remember, one update next week, and then TWO updates a week! WOO!

Totally Awesome Page Turner Dandy signing off.