Hello again! This chapter is a talky one, sorry about that, but I like to think it serves a purpose! The next chapter should be up pretty soon, I actually just need to edit it. Thanks are owed, as usual, to Aiko of the Akatsuki, demon lilith and missmridvika. The fact that I'm uploading this at one in the morning because I just now finished editing it is just further evidence of how much I 3 you guys. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer:

I don't own Naruto.

Study In Contrasts

Mum came into my room as I was going to bed that night.

"I just talked to Kiba's mother," she said, standing by my desk, "she confirmed that he was with you."

"Well, that's because he was," I can't say I was overly interested in what she had to say. Either she was apologizing for not believing me, which I didn't care about because I wouldn't have believed myself in her shoes, or she was here to continue her lecture. 'You were telling the truth this time, but blah blahdy blah'. Which, you know, I also didn't really feel the need to hear.

"She also told me how badly hurt he was," mum glanced up at me to gauge my reaction. I just looked impassively at her. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, not really sure what to say. Or, perhaps more accurately, not sure how to say what she wanted to say without annoying me.

I took pity on her, "Look, I wasn't in that much danger. I don't think they'd beat up a girl that badly. People have principles."

Okay, so it was a complete lie, but if it made her feel better...

"What happened?"

"I told you in the car."

"You didn't give me any details."

"I don't really want to think about it to be honest," I said frankly, "it was terrifying."

Mum looked concerned, "Then it's probably even more important that we talk about it."

"I don't see why." She came and sat down on the bed, ignoring my narrowed eyes and folded arms. "You're not going anywhere, are you." She shook her head.

"Why didn't you say anything when I picked you up?"

"It had only just happened," I pointed out, "and you were mad at me. It didn't really seem the best time."

"And what about now?" She smiled encouragingly.

"What about now?"

"Is now a good time to tell me?"

"Mum... I was going to go to sleep."

A flash of hurt passed across her face but she smiled. "Okay, maybe another time," she leaned over to quickly kiss my cheek. "Good night Ino."

I watched her go, wishing I could have just told her. I hadn't been lying though, when I said I didn't want to think about it. Remembering how scared I had been, trapped and waiting for Kin to show up, made me feel it all over again, which was obviously not a lot of fun. Plus telling her the whole story would mean admitting to the genuine risk of injury that I'd been playing down just moments before. Oh, and I didn't want to accidentally let slip that the girl who was sending her gang after me and my friend was the same girl who had crashed my party and left me with a broken head.

So really, not telling her the truth was doing her a favor. Anyway, I had the Kin situation under control. Pretty much.

I got my phone out to re-read her message from earlier.

u wana talk? alrite by me. u name th plce. il b ther.

Not exactly what you'd call friendly. Although on the other hand, compared to her other recent texts, fairly non-threatening. So maybe this was her way of agreeing to have a peace talk while still asserting her authority?

Or maybe it was her way of getting me somewhere alone so that she could beat me to a bloody pulp. Hard to say.

I went through my inbox, looking for Hinata's text from earlier.

"Hey, Kiba's pretty tired today but otherwise fine. The painkillers are doing their job, he says his ribs don't hurt at all most of the time. He asked after you, but his sister didn't. She seemed happy you weren't there. You'll have to tell me why that is sometime. See you!"

I'd sent her a text back thanking her for the update. Another nice text had been the one I got from Deidara just as I finished eating dinner.

"I'm planning the best date for when you're released from being grounded. In the meantime, how are you coping with solitary confinement?"

I'd sent back a brief message, "Not too bad. Just a little bored, and really wishing I could see you." It felt a little weird saying that, not because it wasn't true or anything but because it just seemed kind of pathetic. I didn't have to worry about it for long though, he sent a reply within the next twenty minutes.

"I can empathize with that, I always wish I could be with you. Just think: 14 hours till double art. And at least 8 of those should be spent asleep!"

I'd laughed at that. If only I could get eight hours of sleep in a night! Aside from that though, the text was incredibly sweet. It always surprised me a little that somebody as generally light-hearted and flippant as Deidara was happy to be so open about his feelings. Unless of course he was lying, saying what he thought I wanted to hear...

I pushed that thought aside as I got into bed. I trusted him and I trusted that he genuinely liked me. I turned over and my gaze fell to the lovely clay flower, still standing its glass by my lamp.

I rolled over again to face the wall, and let the nightly think-fest begin.

/\/\/\/\

The next morning dawned cloudy and grey, but unusually warm. I got dressed slowly, the combination of dull weather conditions and a grand total of four hours of sleep making me lethargic and grumpy.

I grabbed some toast and headed off early, texting Hinata from the bus.

"When are you likely to get to school?"

Not paying much attention to the now-familiar route, I let my head rest against the window. It was unexpectedly cool, and even the jolting of the crappy suspension couldn't do anything about the fact that I was feeling really quite comfortable. In fact, almost comfortable enough to just... doze off... right there...

Someone was shaking me. Someone was... talking to me?

"Ino, Ino?" I was taking a little while to place the voice, "This is our stop, wake up!"

And then, muttered, "Troublesome."

I jolted awake, a hand flying up to check my hair out of instinct. "Shikamaru?"

"Come on," he hauled me to my feet and half dragged me off the bus.

"Sorry about that," I said with a nervous laugh, tucking some stray blond strands behind my ear.

"You fell asleep. On the bus."

"Yes? What about it?"

Shikamaru shrugged, "Nothing. It just seems weird."

"Oh really?" I rolled my eyes, "This from the guy who sleeps in art lessons."

"It's not like I have anything better to do," he retorted, starting to walk towards school. "How are things with you and Deidara?"

Oh yeah. I wasn't technically supposed to be talking to Shikamaru. But that was just something Deidara said when he was mad, wasn't it? He didn't really expect me to stop talking to my friend? I remembered the look of fury on his face and shivered involuntarily. Actually, it was quite possible that he did expect me to.

And even if he didn't, if it bothered him maybe I ought to give it a shot? Relationships are about compromise after all.

"Um, Ino?"

"Mm?" I looked up to see Shikamaru frowning at me.

"You just spaced out there for a moment."

"Mmm," I nodded, turning away slightly.

"... Right then," Out of the corner of my eye I saw Shikamaru shake his head slowly and face forwards.

We walked the rest of the road in silence.

Once I got up to the common room I checked my phone and discovered that Hinata would be arriving in less than five minutes. Which was good for me because I was more than half an hour early and, not counting Shikamaru, completely alone.

I made a big show of reorganizing my bag (twice) before Hinata showed up to put me out of my misery.

"Hey Ino," she sat down next to me, "how are you?"

"Pretty tired but not too bad. You?"

"Oh, the same."

"Thanks again for sending me that text when you went to see Kiba."

Hinata smiled, "It's my pleasure."

"No, seriously," I glanced down at my shoes, "you're pretty much my only way of getting information on how he's doing. I really appreciate that."

"Do you want to know something funny?"

"Go on."

"He was saying almost the exact same thing."

I laughed, "Well there you go. How does it feel to be so in demand?"

"Pretty strange actually," Hinata said seriously, "I'm not used to being considered useful."

My eyes widened slightly in sympathy and I reached over to hug my poor under-loved friend.

"Your family is crazy," I said with feeling.

"Thank you. But let's talk about something a little more interesting, like... Deidara?"

"In what way is that interesting to you?" I asked, but just hearing his name had been enough to put a stupid grin on my face.

"For one thing Kiba was asking how you two are getting along. And for another, if it's interesting to you it's interesting to me!"

It didn't take much to persuade me. I gave in and showed her the texts from the night before, enjoying her obvious admiration of my adorable boyfriend.

"He's very sweet, isn't he," Hinata commented.

"You sound surprised," I teased, "should I be offended?"

"Well I suppose I am a little surprised. I mean, do you remember when he used to be mean to Naruto? Just at the beginning of this year... and look at him now!"

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"What? Sorry, are you upset that-"

"No, I'll tell you what I noticed about that sentence," Hinata looked apprehensive, "I noticed that you didn't stutter at all, didn't so much as blush, when you said Naruto's name."

Now she blushed. "Oh, well, yes... I... Naruto... you see..."

"Don't you like him anymore?"

"I do," she said firmly, "just... maybe not as much."

I raised my eyebrows, "Well I never. What brought this on then?"

"He obviously likes Sakura."

I waited for further reasoning.

"And... I don't know... it's just..."

And I waited for her to finish a sentence.

"I've liked him for a long time now..."

"Yes? And?"

Hinata looked up at me quickly, flicking hair out of her eyes as she did so. "I suppose," she said quietly, "I'm sort of growing up." she smiled suddenly and I saw a kind of confidence in her eyes that I'd never seen before.

"That's cool," I said, holding up a hand. "High five?"

Hinata giggled but slapped my hand enthusiastically.

"I think we ought to make a record of this day," I said solemnly, "as Hinata's coming of age or something."

"Don't be silly," she said, her face turning red. So maybe she wasn't completely changed yet.

Thank goodness!

/\/\/\/\

I met Deidara down in the art room five minutes before the start of the lesson. The moment he saw me he smiled widely, grabbing me in a bear hug.

"How are you, hm? How did you sleep?"

"I'm okay, barely slept at all though."

"That's probably because your brain works too fast," he pushed my hair back from my forehead as if he could see the speed it was running. "Yep. Way too fast, hn."

"I'll bear that in mind," I stood on tiptoes to kiss him and he responded eagerly, tightening his arms around me.

"You smell fantastic," Deidara murmured against the skin of my cheek. Not exactly X-rated, but for some reason it made me blush. Deidara noted this with some amusement, "cute, yeah. I don't often get to see you blush."

"Oh shush," I kissed him quickly to shut him up.

We moved away from each other abruptly as the door opened, although I noticed Deidara didn't fully remove both his arms, leaving one hand on the small of my back. Shikamaru came in, acknowledging the two of us with a brief nod.

Not much later the class started to fill up and everyone took their seats, knowing Kakashi wouldn't show up for at least fifteen minutes. Deidara looked pensive as we sat down.

"Do you often have trouble sleeping? Hn."

"Yeah, pretty much every night," I let out a short laugh.

"Got a lot on your mind I guess, yeah."

I counted them off on my fingers, "Kin, Sakura and Sasuke, my mum, my dad... some of them I think of more than others but that's about everyone," I felt another smile tugging at the corners of my mouth, "and there's you of course, but that's far less unpleasant."

Deidara raised an eyebrow slowly, "Is that so, hm?" A grin spread over his face, smooth as honey, "In that case maybe the best way to help you sleep is to... encourage the more enjoyable thoughts."

"Now that sounds like fun."

Unfortunately we were interrupted by the classroom door opening and Kakashi backing into the room, arms full of new canvases for the painters in the class.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, not sounding even slightly apologetic, "I got held up when my car's engine unexpectedly cut out in the middle of town..."

"Yeah right, Kakashi!"

"Pull the other one!"

"We all get here on time, why can't you?"

"What a slacker!"

Deidara and I contributed our own gibes, then settled down with our respective art projects. Finalizing a sketch for another point of view piece I felt a rare sense of being on top of my life. I internally laughed at myself.

Better enjoy it while it lasts!

I left the school building that afternoon with Hinata, checking the cars assembled in the road for my mum's.

"Are you going to see Kiba today?" I asked hopefully.

"I hadn't decided yet," she replied, "why? Would you like me to?"

"Only if you want to," I said quickly, "I mean, I'd love to know how he is but if you'd rather not bother-"

"No, it's fine. I like spending time with him."

I thanked her quickly but had to run off, seeing mum come around the corner. "See you tomorrow!" I called over my shoulder, coming to a halt by the car.

"Good day today?" Mum asked as I got in.

"Yeah, you?"

"Not bad."

My phone buzzed and I fished it out of my pocket, finding a text from Ten Ten.

"I'm going to Neji's house tomorrow afternoon for sparring practice!! Can you believe it?!?!"

I couldn't actually. It seemed so unlike the cold, antisocial boy I'd come to see him as. But hey, anything was possible. Maybe he just had a soft spot for Ten Ten? I typed in a reply.

"That's fantastic! Are you going to tell him how you feel?"

I got a message back moments later.

"I don't know. What do you think?"

Good question. I thought about it all the way back, not answering until I got up to my room at home.

"I think it might be your best bet. Either he does like you, in which case great, that's the end of it. Or he doesn't but you telling him makes him see you in a new light. Or he doesn't but he decides he may as well give it a go and then sees how fantastic you are and falls head over heels in love. Or, the grim possibility, he doesn't and that doesn't change even after you tell him. But that last one is the worst case scenario, and even if it does happen, what are the long term effects? You get over him and find someone even better. So all in all, it's win-win-win-win if you tell him."

While I was on my phone I decided to send a quick text to Temari as well, "Hey, long time no see. How are things with the Kinster?"

I stared longingly out of the window. The sky outside was darkening, I knew if I went outside the air would be cool and crisp and just perfect for a night out clubbing. It would be a perfect opportunity to catch up with Ten Ten and Temari as well. But I couldn't, because I was grounded.

Slouching irritably downstairs to grab a snack, I heard mum on the phone in the living room.

"Yeah yeah, I know... Well that's easy for you to say isn't it?" her voice was light, maybe even teasing. Then she giggled. I frowned where I stood, eavesdropping with absolutely no shame. "Yes... well I can try. No, not Friday. Maybe... yes, may-"

There was another pause, then she giggled again, sounding like a teenage girl.

"Uh huh, maybe Saturday... I'll have to see when Inoichi is planning to... yes..."

I smiled to myself and crept back upstairs, no longer particularly hungry. So mum had a boyfriend? Well, good for her. Come to think of it, that was probably where she vanished to on the weekends. I suddenly felt like a bit of an idiot. What work emergencies could drag a book editor into the office on a Sunday? I went back into my room, picking up my phone to check for messages.

"Kiba's still okay. His arm has been itching like crazy under the cast, but we managed to get some air down there with a hairdryer on its cold setting and he said that helped. He almost dozed off twice, but he's been getting plenty of sleep. It's probably just the painkillers making him sleepy. Akamaru was pretty energetic today, Kiba says he feels up to taking him for a walk but Hana's being way overprotective and doesn't even like him to go downstairs to fetch things. I told him about how well Deidara's treating you and he was pleased. Hope you're doing okay, see you tomorrow.

-Hinata"

It was nice to get such detailed information, though I felt a bit of a pang at the thought of the two of them trying to find ways of easing Kiba's itchy arm. I knew it was stupid and immature, but a part of me felt like Hinata was taking my place, even temporarily, as his best friend. I tried to ignore the feeling, reading my other new message.

"What time are you going to bed?

-Deidara"

I checked the time: twenty to ten. I sent a reply, "Probably around ten o'clock. Why?"

All I got back was a slightly enigmatic, "Let me know when you're getting into bed."

I couldn't help but be curious, although a part of me wondered if I was going to regret that curiosity. This was Deidara after all, Kami only knew what I could be letting myself in for. Nonetheless I got ready for bed a little early, texting Deidara back at five to ten.

"I'm in bed now."

That could be interpreted in a lot of very interesting ways. I didn't get long to think about it though, as my phone rang moments later. I picked it up, answering the call, and pressed the speaker to my ear. Deidara's voice came through, and I could hear that he was smiling.

"Right, I know you're not allowed to call people, so I'm calling you. And I know you're not allowed to talk on the phone, so you won't need to say a word, hn. Okay, so this isn't exactly obeying the spirit of the law, but I think I might be able to help you sleep and I reckon that's important enough to slightly bend the rules, yeah."

I didn't need a mirror to know that I was positively beaming as I turned off my lights and lay down in bed, the phone between the pillow and my ear. Deidara was still talking.

"Now I have a few ideas and this is the only point at which I'm going to need your input. You won't have to speak though, don't worry, hn. When I say something you like the sound of, just cough once. Now, I can just babble on about any old random crap until you get bored and fall asleep," he paused to allow me to cough if I wanted to, "I can talk about something dull but relevant to your life... I can tell you a story," I coughed then, as clearly as I could.

"Yeah, I thought you might like that one. Would you like me to make one up myself, hm?" I coughed again and he chuckled softly. "So. Once upon a time there was a girl. She was beautiful and funny and clever and any man who saw her instantly fell in love with her. Her name was, uh, Ina, and she was the princess of the kingdom of Konoha. One day she was walking through the castle and a view from one of the windows caught her eye. There was something going on just outside the castle gate and a large crowd had gathered, making it impossible to see exactly what was happening. Ina rushed outside to make sure everything was alright and when she got there she found that all the fuss was being caused by a young man and some clay, yeah. He was creating the most amazing sculptures, and everyone from the town had gathered, hoping to buy one. But this artist said that his work was not for sale, it could be seen and enjoyed and then it would be destroyed, because true art was fleeting and could only exist for a moment, hn."

I laughed sleepily at that.

"Anyway, when he saw Princess Ina he was struck by her incredible beauty, and without a word set to creating a sculpture of her. He was finished in seconds, such was his talent, yeah, and she smiled at the likeness."

It was around then that I started to drift off, lulled into sleep by the sound of Deidara's voice in my ear. I faded in and out of full consciousness, only catching the occasional sentence.

"She asked him where he had learned to sculpt like that, and he replied that..."

".. He discovered that this lovely princess had a curse that prevented her from falling asleep..."

"... And that's when the artist knew for sure," Deidara's momentary hesitation before finishing his sentence caught my attention, "that he was in love."