AN: Dude, it appears as if Neverwhere will be updated weekly until further notice. However, school is still hell, so if I miss a week don't bug me. But I still need your love to keep up the will, so review, review, review!

Coming Next Chapter: The other end of the cliffhanger and Kanaye – but fleshed out entirely.

VOTE: I'm thinking of doing a chapter full of parodies on previous scenes/mary-sues/etc. Vote on when/where, or if you want one at all!

Aniki – older brother

Thanks goes to –

Beta: Kim and Madi

Happy List: saturnova, Deiah, Ah-choo, Xoni Newcomer, and Random person

Chapter 5 – Jasmine and Chai

It was Thursday. Arakawa Kado knew hell was in the air when he heard the unfortunate door being guillotined sideways in the hallway, followed by the thump of a school bag against the wall and the accompanying rattle of picture frames.

"Akina?" he cautiously called. There was no answer, so he leaned away from the heat of the stove and peered into the dark hallway with storm-colored eyes – and then abruptly turned back around and emptied a brownie onto a paper plate. While counting slowly down from ten in his head, he sloshed milk into a glass and organized the two neatly on the table. When he got to one, Akina burst into the kitchen and threw herself into a chair. She engaged the brownie lump with gusto and drained the glass of milk in two swallows.

"Aniki, today was horrible!" she gushed. "That new Hinata girl stole my bag!"

Kado wanted to mention the earlier noise, which had doubtlessly left a large black skid mark in the white paint, but decided to be patient.

"Our class was researching for an English project in the library, and me, Akiko, Akane, and Rei were just hanging out and laughing at something that dumbass Kanaye-kun had done earlier, when she freaked out and ran off with my bag!"

"Then whose…?"

"I took hers."

The bag was produced and subsequently emptied onto the table. Papers and books spilled out, mostly related to school, but on top of them was a single lined sheet of paper, filled with doodles, all of people, all unlabeled. It seemed to Akina that the sketcher was drawing faces she would soon forget if they weren't physically visible. Akina traced the line of a face with a thumb, wondering at the familiarity of it. There were figures all over the page; here a little girl in a summer kimono with long, dark hair; there the face of a breathtaking man with far-away wide open eyes and unshaded hair spiking out in all directions.

"You shouldn't do this," Kado told Akina, who'd finally managed to tear her eyes away and rustle through the other things. There didn't seem to be anything else quite so personal as the sketches inside.

"She'll do the same to mine," Akina said almost cheerfully.

Kado gave up and went back to his pots of unfinished udon, which he understood far better than the quirks of his little sister. Meanwhile, everything was crammed messily back into Hinata's messenger bag, courtesy of Akina. But the lone sketch page stayed in her hands, under the warm kitchen lights. Akina frowned.

"She's so strange. I think I saw her at a party once, smoking and hanging all over some guys. Now she's acting so shy and weird."

"People change, Akina-chan," Kado countered, rolling his eyes at the stove.

-

"So…how was your fourth day at school?" Kanaye asked Hinata, slapping her on her back as he came up behind her. She jumped when he did this, but immediately broke out into a smile, albeit a strained one. She leaned against a school wall as other people floated past.

"Not good at all," Hinata replied. Kanaye could almost see the raincloud hovering a foot above her head. "I accidentally took Arakawa Akina-san's bag."

"Ooooh,"Kanaye murmured, eyes alight at the sight of a juicy story. "How did that happen?"

"I heard her and her friends laughing at me in the library, and I got really embarrassed and ashamed and ran off. But I took the wrong bag."

Hinata twisted her hands nervously. She was a responsible adult – she'd just go apologize and trade back for her bag. Tomorrow, that is.

"Aw, man," Kanaye groaned. "I thought I was gonna get a good chase scene, or maybe a case of mad rage outta this…but you're so lame. Oh well. Pass me the bag."

"No," Hinata said, seeing where his train of thought was leading. "You're not going to try to blackmail Arakawa-san. It's rude. We won't go through her bag and she won't go through mine."

Seeing a wall, Kanaye changed gears, saying, "Okay then. Do you know how to get home?"

"Yes."

"You go on ahead, I've got a club meeting to go to," he grinned, getting ready to shove off.

"Club meeting?" Hinata floundered.

"Didn't I tell you?" he laughed. "I'm part of the Junior Anti-Drug League."

He let this sink in for a moment. Hinata tried not to say anything, but six days' worth of Kanaye proved too much.

"You're…you're…you're such a hypocrite!" she burst out, and then covered her mouth with an alarmed hand.

"Hey, I don't do anything my mom wouldn't do."

"Your mom…isn't drunk."

"Yeah, but she drinks!" he reasoned.

"You're impossible," Hinata managed to get out.

"I'm not impossible," he grinned. "I'm the vice president."

Hinata left the vice president of the Anti-Drug League behind so she could keep him from getting under her skin any more than he already was.

Kanaye was a nerd, but then again, only on Thursday nights for one hour during club meetings.

-

"I'm going out to play with the band tonight," Kado said from the doorway. "My cell will be on, and the emergency numbers are on the fridge – oh, and extra brownies are in the Tupperware on the counter."

"Okay, Aniki," Akina replied, hugging him tightly on his way out. A smile twitched at his lips and he returned the embrace.

"Maybe you should call Mom," Kado suggested quietly, pulling away and stepping out into the main hall on their floor. Akina didn't reply, slamming the door behind him and shuffling into the living room, where she flopped back onto the couch, eyes focused, but unseeing, on the television. The sketch paper was folded up in her lap and she took it and spread it out. The handsome pencil-mark man came alive in her eyes – she knew his hair was blond and his eyes were blue.

Sakura put the teapot on the stove and rustled around the pantry for some tealeaves, vaguely listening to her husband conversing on the phone in the other room.

"Hiya, Hinata-chan," he said loudly, and listened intently for a moment.

Sakura found the box of chai she'd been looking for, because Naruto liked it, and the box of jasmine for herself. She put them on the counter and leaned on it, lazily watching the steam rise from the metal pot.

"Sakura's crazy," he grumbled, and Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Ever since she got pregnant, she's been throwing things. Ouch!"

The "ouch" was courtesy of Sakura, who had correctly angled a spoon through the doorway directly into the back of Naruto's skull.

"How are you doing? And Neji? And Nariko-chan?" he asked, rubbing the back of his head and moving away from the door and out of Sakura's line of sight…and projectile range.

"Listen, Hinata," Naruto said, suddenly serious. "I didn't call you just to catch up. I need you to watch Sakura. She isn't due for another two weeks, but I'd rather have her safe. Besides, she could use help lifting and stuff…sorry about this…but…Sasuke left without me, and now I have to chase him. He knows it's important, so why couldn't he wait? Goddammit!"

He sighed, and Sakura came in and stood at the doorway, quietly watching, stance open. He was pacing with one fist clenched, eyes open and blue but just a few shades away from red.

"Thanks," he said. "See ya later."

The phone was replaced on its hook, and now his attention was all on Sakura. He was two steps away and, quickly closing the distance between them, pulled her up into his arms and spun her around a few paces. She smiled and buried her nose in his collar, breathing in his earthy musk.

"I have to go now, Sakura-chan," he said, lifting her face to his with a hand.

"I know, Naruto," she grumbled against his mouth. "But I want you to stay with me."

"When I come back," he started, "We'll have tea together on the balcony. And it'll be raining."

He kissed her one last time, and lifted up her shirt to bestow a kiss on her pregnant belly. Then he bounded out the window and was gone.

It was Sakura's turn to sigh, and return to her kitchen, one that was so big and so empty now. She put the chai tea back onto the lowest pantry shelf and went to lean out of the window from which he'd left. She looked at the sky, waiting for her teapot to whistle and the rain to come.

-

Hinata went to school anyway, despite the intense, acute, stabbing feeling in her stomach. She just needed to get this over with. Akina's bag hung on her shoulder, loosely flapping about in the morning air. After Kanaye's third attempt had been thwarted by Hinata, he'd pretty much given up trying to "take a measley little peek" inside.

He let her go upstairs to class unimpeded, and went his way happily.

However, it was only so long before the call of nature made him take to the now empty halls, en route to the boys' bathroom.

"Holy shit," he said, because Akina was next to the door of said bathroom, leaning against the wall, looking at him. She stood up as he came closer.

"I have a question," she stated, putting her hands on her hips.

"Do you wanna ask me out?" he lazily asked, grinning like a shark.

"NO!" Akina spewed, venomously glaring up at him.

Kanaye slumped a little, his expression fazing back into the normal, bored look, and said, "Oh, well in that case – yes, he's a jerk but he really loves you on the inside so you should call him back."

"I'm not looking for advice!" Akina hissed.

"Huh?"

"I'M NOT LOOKING FOR ADVICE!"

"Then what do you want?" Kanaye groaned. "I need to piss."

Akina deflated a little, and pulled out a folded up piece of paper from one of her tight pants' pockets. She unfolded Hinata's sketch page and held it up to him.

"So?" he grumbled. "Someone drew people. Move outta the way."

"Do you know who they are?" Akina asked.

"What?"

She looped a foot through his headphone cord and stomped downwards, effectively ripping them out of his ears.

"I said, DO YOU KNOW WHO THEY ARE?"

"You're so loud," Kanaye muttered.

"No, that's your music. I can hear it from here."

Kanaye gave the drawings a critical eye, at least for appearance's sake, and said:

"I give up. Who are they?"

She was so close to wrapping her fingers around his neck and choking the life out of him – if only she didn't need this one bit of information.

"I DON'T KNOW! THAT'S WHY I'M ASKING YOU!"

Kanaye eyed her, and moved to step into the bathroom, but she blocked him. Defeated, he shuffled backwards a little and tried to get somewhat serious.

"Look, would you at least tell me who did the drawings?" he asked, crossing his arms, irritated with how this was going.

"Your girlfriend," Akina explained.

"Who?"

"Hinata…Sorano…whatever."

"Well, it all started with my childhood," Kanaye began.

"I don't want to hear about your childhood," Akina ground out.

"Okay, then I'll skip to the good part: she's not my girlfriend!"

"Don't avoid the question!" Akina barked.

"I don't even remember what the question was! Why don't you just ask Hinata?" Kanaye retaliated, spiky black hair shaking in emphasis.

Akina anxiously twirled her long hair around a finger, her face the picture of tension. She remembered the awkward exchange in its entirety: Hinata trying to stammer out an apology while Akina just snatched her bag back and thrust Hinata's into her arms, making a quick getaway afterwards.

"I can't," Akina muttered.

"This is one of those 'girl things,' isn't it?" Kanaye said, tone suspicious. "I can't handle that stuff."

This time, Akina let him slid past her into the bathroom.

-

Akina laughed with Akiko as she told a funny story about her boyfriend and the beach, and Yumeko tapped her on the shoulder to ask if Akina was going to the movies on Saturday. The whole group was mingling outside after school, chatting and lounging in the shade of a tree on campus. Akina's sharp eyes, glancing at the school doors every now and then, finally caught sight of Kanaye and Hinata leaving the building.

"There they are," Akina murmured, and loudly told her clique, "I'm gonna get that bitch."

They smirked, to varying degrees, and let Akina pass.

She stomped up to Kanaye and Hinata, determined not to lose her nerve. Kanaye scrammed as soon as she appeared – apparently he'd had enough of Akina's wrath for the day. Akina dragged Hinata off, around the corner of the school building and out of sight from the school population. Akina put one arm out to hold Hinata in place and with the other dug out the pictures Hinata had drawn. She held them up to the sun.

"Who are they, Hinata?"