Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Prompt #34: Eyes - It's amazing the amount of joy - and pain - one could see if one looked hard enough.

Words: 661

You can tell a lot about someone from what you can see in their eyes.

Sometimes it's easy to understand. Sometimes it's a bear to even guess.

It all depends on how hard you look, and for how long.

These things take practice.

His hide.

He doesn't like to share. A born shinobi, he has no inclination to let others into his mind.

It's like looking into a frosted window into a raging white blizzard. Cold and harsh, strong and unshakable. It can't break. He won't let it. He can't.

But she'd chance that storm to learn more.

Hers show.

She's not much of a hider. Honesty is her policy, and a smile is her best feature.

It's like falling into a waterfall of chocolate. Warm and smooth, rich and seductive. She can't be restrained. She won't be. She hates it.

He's dying to find out how, and why.

Brown and white.

Warm and cold.

Dark and pale.

Earth and Moon.

Hers and his. Different in appearance, but similar in the way they hold secrets to those who cannot read them.

Unlike many others, each wishes to break through the shields that the other holds. Each wants to know what others can't.

So they start learning.

She learns to peer into them.

It takes time and practice. He's not exactly an open book. He hides his feelings from the world, behind locked doors and closed shutters.

But sometimes she can see a flicker. Sometimes, an emotion attempts to show itself. She lives for those moments.

Soon the flickers become trickles, and the trickles become a steady stream. Once she looks past the frost and the white, the swirls make sense.

She can tell when he's happy, and even when his face is a mask of emotionlessness, there's a twinkle in his eyes. It's clear when he watches the antics of their friends, seeing what joys life can bring him.

It's more noticeable as she spends more time with him. She can only dare to hope it's because of her.

He learns to read them.

It takes some doing. She doesn't hide like others he knew. Her feelings are present in her eyes at all times, bright and cheerful like a candle flame.

But then he sees that sometimes, she does hide. Emotions can hide emotions. He strives to differenciate between the truths.

Soon the emotions settle, and patterns emerge. Once he's past the warmth and the turmoil, the patterns make sense.

He can see when she's in pain, and even when she flashes the brightest smile ever, there are tears glistening in her eyes. It's apparent when she looks at his family, something she once had but has no more.

It starts to disappear as he spends more time with her. He's too proud to imagine that it's due to him.

They're quite a pair.

Everyone else just rolls their eyes and let them do what they do. It's a couple thing, some say. It's a training exercise, Gai and Lee insist. It's just what they do, say others.

Who knows what it really is to them. Each is a mystery, an enigma.

However, both are incredibly stubborn. Neither wants to admit that they don't know when their best friend is hiding something. Their eyes hide much in their own ways.

So they keep at it. It gets easier over time, but they don't let their success go to their heads.

Just a rambling drabble. I like it.

Review please!