Sean was very conservative at the date, his hands were in his pockets, his eyes wandered the scenery, and kept a distance from her. All of this made Sakura feel even more that this date was with Sasuke, not something she hated but not preferred. She always this is how a date would go with him but always wanted something more. It was just the start of the day and the date, and Sakura felt like something will change by the end of it.
Out of the few things Sakura knew about Sean was his own unknown for his past, and the fact he still doesn't feel as this place as home. Even the first time they hung out he cared none for the inside of the village and his insistence on the same clothes signified he was ready to leave.
"So, how'd you like your apartment?" she asked him in an attempt to destroy the silence.
"My apartment? Oh yeah, I only visited that place once so far. If I am correct then Shikamaru has left my old headband there."
"Have you changed anything since you got there? We did the best we could in finding something relativity not expensive but also plain to put your own likeness to it."
"I don't think I've even put any food in the fridges."
Sakura latched on his arm and pulled him inside the ship they just crossed. Oh lord she had this place planned. Sean worried himself, inside the shop was lined with art. The walls had evenly spaced out paintings and the floor laid a path of sculptures and statues. Right next to the door, the one employee was spaced out in a book.
"I went to this place when I was younger, got a few lessons." Sakura commented.
"I tried to draw once, failed it and never picked up ink since then." Sean walked past the counter. His arm brushed on the fox statue on the counter and knocked it off. The lady dropped her book on the desk and reached out for it. Sean acted on reflex and grabbed the statue with a wind strand from his finger. He grabbed hold of the statue and placed it back in its spot. "Sorry about that."
"You 'ought to be more careful around here." The lady pushed up her glasses. "Oh Sakura." She smiled at the pink hair woman. "Haven't seen you here in ages."
Sakura leaned back and smiled like her life depended on it. "Oh you know, just been busy with the hokage."
"Oh that's right." She picked up her book and showed Sakura the cover. "You've encouraged me to learn a little medical jutsu as well." She leaned over to Sakura. "Is this boy a new boyfriend? I don't even think Ino has been with a boy."
"I can hear you." Sean found himself at the distraction of one of the paintings. "I've been called this boy toy but boyfriend, no. She's helping me."
"Well he's more talkative than Sasuke." She whispered over to Sakura.
"Still hear you."
The clerk nervously laughed. "SO what is it your looking for anything specific? A weapon rack for all your swords. Or maybe you have a fascination of dragons? I have all sorts of artwork available."
"I don't know. Typically I find art such a waste, back where I come from the only art you learned was theft and jutsu."
"I'm guessing you don't hail from the village do you? Where is it you're from?"
"Amegakure, just me and my grandparents. If you can find the old family seal that'd be the only thing I'd hang in my walls."
"Family seal. Village hidden in the rain. Let me see." She stepped off the stool and walked over to the back of the shop. She walked to a tall bookcase and pulled it to her. There was a hidden bookcase inside of that one. She walked into the space and came out with a large, dusty brown book. She walked back to her desk, sat on her stool and opened the book. "What's the family clan?"
"The Ezenki clan."
She started to flip through pages, with every page flip she gave a small ugh hmm and a raised eyebrow. After about twenty page flips she flicked her finger on one of bottom of the page. "Almost missed this sucker. Easiest symbol description, a pair of triangles horizontally overlapped with three horizontal lines going through it. The book says the two triangles is the two ninja, the triangle represents the mental state, chakra network, and the kekki genkai. And the line represents an equivalent trade of the two systems."
Seam huffed. "So I guess the family is known as the Genkai Stealers. If I could get a big painting of that, I'll take that."
"I require a twenty percent charge up front, unless you can show me what it means to be a Genkai Stealer."
Sean sighed and flipped his headband over. The two were in awe at the sight of the mysterious eye. "It's called the Tozoto. With this I can take the ability from other ninja, gain the ability and use it from then on."
The clerk leaned in eye to eye. "If you let me draw that the painting will be of no charge. Imagine being the first to record this data for future generations of the leaf. It'd be amazing."
"As much as it seems as I'm not interested on what's going on. Me and Sakura are kind've on a date."
"It's Sakura and I, but it only should take a few hours. By then I'd have the painting done, the eye done and the night life will truly begin."
Sean looked over at Sakura for her approval, he didn't mind either way. Sakura's on the other side is what mattered. With one punch he knew he could go through three buildings and even that wouldn't be full strength.
"I don't mind, it's an excuse to get you cornered and figure out a little about you."
It wasn't Sean's first choice in options but was still surprised Sakura agreed to this. Sean shrugged an I guess so and went along with the woman to a back room. Sean had his chin propped up on a stand and was forced to remain in that position for the next few hours. Sakura took this opportunity to get as much information from Sean as possible.
Sean was secretly an open book if anyone was interested in his story. Nobody asked to hear about Sean if it didn't fit their agenda. Sakura was able to figure out anything she wanted to know because of it. She found out his past and how his life was like inside the village hidden in the rain. It wasn't a glamorous life but not a lot of outsiders got to know how life inside another village was. Anything shared would've been the powerful and glamorous life. He admitted the first time he was happy was with Orochimaru but that was before all the tests. He originally thought that Orochimaru took him to give him a real life. But it was a cover to force the true powers of the eye and get his two sisters to activate them as well.
Everything Sean went through made Sakura feel terrible, all she was able to say was the happiness she went through and maybe the light bully. Even to this day Sean hasn't had time of relief or a home to sleep at. He was either captured or tested on or was on the run to escape the damage he was forced to cause. There was only one thing he didn't tell the interested girl, his old relationship with Tayuya. Sean lied to himself to think of it as an full fledge relationship but was really a way for her to release her frustrations. If he had to put an example of it, it was like one of the seven swordsmen of the mist he once encountered. One aimed to protect the other at all costs but the protected hid away all true feelings till the end. And at the end, those feelings would be never known.
The pair left the shop stiffer than thought at the end of the day and more connected than expected. Sean didn't feel like he understood who Sakura was and all her troubles but could in the very least know how to react in her presence. Sean thought of Sakura like a more mature Miri, Sakura may have wanted to go out and find another but her heart haunts over someone else. Miri hasn't found that person yet, but once she does she won't be able toget him off her mind even with another.
"So what do we do with these? Go to my apartment or leave these somewhere and go to where ever you want?"
"We should go to your place of course, I don't think you know the first thing about how art compliments the space." Sakura held onto a copy of the eye painting.
"If that's what you want to do."
Sean almost struggled to lead her to his own home. He's barely been there to remember the street or the look of the place. Inside the single bedroom home she understood what Sean said about the place. Everything was left to how it was when it was first set up for them. The papers on the coffee stand was still neatly stacked, the remote to the TV was still on top of the box, nothing was touched or moved around. The only thing different was how the old rain headband was on the table.
"So you got an idea for where this should go?" Sean asked.
Sakura moved the papers on the small table and placed the picture on the corner of it. "This should go here. And the picture you hold should go right above the dinner table. The eye makes for a great conversation starter and the family seal is always a reminder for the name you must carry out."
Since the table shoved to the side wall, Sean nailed it the center of the wall. No matter what side the person at, they could look up at the wall and see who lived there. Sean sat next to Sakura on the couch. His heavy drop made Sakura bounce and drop to his side. "Thank you for your time today." Sean offered out his hand.
Sakura didn't accept the handshake at first, she was stunned at the gesture. All the books she read, all the acts she seen. Every one ended differently but none ever ended in a handshake. She hoped this hesitation would make Sean do something else. Yet he still decided to keep his arm extended.
"What an idiot." Miri scowled. She hid in the tree just outside his window with Naruto.
"He's with Sakura like a loser, I'm the one that should really be there and not this guy." Naruto complained alongside Miri.
Miri didn't want Naruto to know out front, through her hunt for her friends she found Hinata. She followed her for a while because of her nervous walk and self talk. What she could gather is that she attempted to get Naruto's attention. She'd never release another girl's secret, every romance story she red pointed her to that.
"I'm not agreeing with you there. Sometimes someone else it out there for every person. Maybe, just maybe Sean isn't right for Sakura but every person finds their match eventually. Denial surely isn't going to be a match. But come on he offers her a handshake."
"Yes Sakura deserves all the happiness she wants. But how do we make that happen without being caught?"
"Spirit style; spirit body." Miri became translucent and crouched over to the window. Luckily for her Sakura opened it when they entered the room. She rolled in the window and crawled behind the couch. She saw her time close on her, Sakura was about to lift her arm to the offer. Miri yanked herself around the edge of the couch and elbowed Sean's back.
Sean unexpectedly to him fell into Sakura. His mouth connected with the unexpected Sakura's. At first Sakura was shocked at the sudden move, it was a little more forward than she thought but didn't reject it. Her hands found themselves at his face and caressed his cheeks. Sean broke the kiss as soon as he realized what he did.
"I'm sorry, I'm not entirely sure what happened." Sean moved from the couch and tripped over Miri. "Miri, god damn it what are you doing here."
"Making love happen."
"I'll kill you!" Naruto broke through the window just like he did at the hospital. Sakura was instantly annoyed and spun around to lock another punch into Naruto. He went straight through the open hole and through the tree he hid.
Miri snapped her fingers. "My bad."
