Chapter ten
The paintings and the talk
A/N: Yay! Chapter ten! :)
XxXxX (still can't figure out how to put those darn lines in…)
"Yes, hello, May I please speak with Mr. Gaara?"
True to my word, I called Mr. Gaara the next morning. Although I didn't do it as soon as I woke up, or got dressed. I had Daisuke, Anemone, and Kisuke to take care of. It wasn't necessarily hard or challenging, so I did it quickly.
"This is him."
"Oh, okay…well I'd like to request piano lessons for a child."
He paused for a moment. "Who recommended me to you?" He said finally.
"Hm? Oh by Sasuke Uchiha."
He paused again. "Is it his second oldest?"
"Yes."
I heard him clear his throat. He then told me to hold. So I held, until I heard him say he'd be over in an hour. I hung up the phone. Moving my hair out of my face, I tried to think of all the other things I could be doing while I waited.
The house was spotless so there needed to be no cleaning, breakfast had already been made, and Daisuke, Anemone, and Kisuke had preoccupied themselves with their own personal likings. There was really nothing I needed to do!
After a few minutes of pacing, I suddenly remembered the paintings in the art room. How could I have forgotten? I still didn't know what kind of paintings they were, nor did I know of whom!
Walking out of the kitchen, I crossed the divine living room and into the art room. I slowly opened the door. It was dark, so I couldn't visually make out anything, but small shafts of light led me to the light switch.
Flicking it on, my mouth slightly gapped open at the sight that I saw. Since I had never fully been in the art room, I had never gotten the chance to fully look at everything inside. So I was amazed when I saw paintings…and paintings of Sasuke and Sakura.
Some were hung up on the wall, in a modern fashion, and others had been set on the ground. In some they were together, and in others they were not. There were shelves of picture albums on both sides of the large room.
In curiosity, I walked over and grabbed one off its shelf. I opened it, and my eyes widened. There, on the first page, was me and Sakura, arms linked together, grinning in front of America's Statue of Liberty. In our senior year of high school our graduating class was granted the trip of going to New York. So…we went.
A small smile graced my lips as I turned from page to page. On one page, Sakura got a picture of Naruto trying to pawn some fake jewelry, on another; she got a picture of Ino gapping at a Dolce and Gabbana purse.
And then there was one of me…sleeping…totally unaware that my picture had been taken. I chuckled when I thought of my adolescent reaction. My cheeks had reddened, and I tried to grab the picture away while Sakura and Ino were laughing.
Idly for about twenty minutes, I flipped through the rest, letting memories of that fun summer flood back into my mind. And then I came upon a picture of Sasuke, sprawled all over on his bed, sleeping. Sakura must have snuck that shot…
I looked at the peaceful looking boy sleeping on his bed, and then tried to compare him to the terse looking man upstairs, in his study. As I thought about it, it didn't really seem as if Sasuke changed that much, except physically.
My plan of getting to know Sasuke better, had either failed, or I hadn't started yet, because still I didn't really know what to think of Sasuke. To be honest, he had always intimidated me. And I never would have thought that we would ever live in the same house, so I never really made an effort to overcome that intimidation.
Sighing I closed the photo album. Putting it back, I was about to leave, but I suddenly remembered why I had even come in the art room in the first place. Turning around I came close enough to the covered frames, just enough to flip the cover off…and I got a big surprise.
I saw myself. There, in the frame, was a watercolor version of myself. My eyes widened with shock. This…this was just so unexpected! My head was swarming with thoughts of all kinds.
"I told you they were quite impressive." Sasuke's familiar voice said. My thoughts broke. Startled I snapped my head up, speechless. Why hadn't he told me, one of them were of me? Clearing my throat, I tried to catch my breath.
With almost a smirk on his face, Sasuke come up closer, and looked at the painting of me. He glanced at me, and then at the painting again. "I bet you're just as confused as I am."
"Yeah." I paused and took a deep breath. "I am."
"Though I'm not surprised. Sakura was rather fond of you…" Sasuke trailed off, and suddenly turned to me. "You know, I think it's time we have a thorough and informative talk. We need to clarify some things." He didn't know how…relieved I was to hear him say those words.
I nodded, but said nothing. I kept my mouth closed. It wasn't my time to talk yet. As I exited the art room behind Sasuke, I turned the light off and closed the door. As I walked down the stairs, I noticed Anemone had taken her spot in the alcove where her piano stood.
I didn't want to tell her about Mr. Gaara just yet.
XXxXx
Once again I found myself in Sasuke's study, only this time the feeling was a bit different. The first couple times I felt a bit intimidated by him, but this time I didn't feel anything of the sort. In fact, it was like a sincere feeling.
"You know, Hinata, I never really understood why Sakura was so fond of you. Of all the things that baffled me, which aren't many that was one of them." Sasuke said as he looked at me, his hands linked, his eyes sharp and open.
I nodded. Many people didn't really understand. "Well I asked her once and she said there was just something about me, something that she just couldn't explain." As I thought more about Sakura, the feeling of crying came, but I didn't want to cry. I couldn't cry because the tears just weren't there.
"Yeah, she told me the same thing. It was just too vague of an answer, I left it alone." Sasuke shook his head. "Of every person that she spoke with, I assumed that she was the most open with you, but I guess I was wrong."
"I don't think I was the only one that she spoke with." I said.
Sasuke almost scoffed. "You were the only one she actually liked being with."
He did have a point there.
"Didn't Sakura talk with Ino? I know that they were friends." I suggested.
Sasuke shrugged. "I guess, but you were the one she talked about the most. Supposedly she was "happy about what you had become"."
I remember that. Sakura had often expressed to me about how glad she was that I had become such a nice, and sincere person, considering my up bring. She said out of the three of my most close family members I was the most reasonably sane. She said Neji was just too tight and precise, and Hanabi was just crazy. And I had to agree with her.
Sasuke stopped talking for a moment, and it looked as if he were trying to remember something. His view had been shifted from me to the right, and his eyes had settled. It looked as if he remembered something he really didn't want to. Nostalgia, maybe?
For a moment, I had been caught up in my own thoughts, and I hadn't been paying attention when I Sasuke said. "Sakura told me that she loved simplicity." But I didn't catch that.
I had been thinking about how we were speaking about Sakura as if she were still here. I only heard simplicity, so I politely asked him to repeat it. Before he got the chance, his phone started to ring and before I knew it our conversation was over and I was making my way downstairs. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to talk with him a bit longer, but it was a start. He did say we would finish later.
As I sat down at a stool in the kitchen, I looked at my watch and tried to calculate when Mr. Gaara would arrive. I had looked at the pictures for about twenty-five minutes and talked with Sasuke for about fifteen, maybe twenty minutes, if you counted his pause. So I still had some time left to do something worthwhile.
Quietly I checked on Anemone, who was still at her piano. I then went upstairs to see what Daisuke and Kisuke were doing. I came upon a familiar scene. Kisuke was quietly playing with his mini automotives, and Daisuke was reading a book in a secluded corner of the room.
Perhaps we could have some fun?
"Hey, guys, would you like to go to the park?"
XxXxX
I really need to stop doing this…cutting the story off short that is.