AN: Thanks so much guys for almost 500 views. That's just the coolest thing ever! And it's only been two weeks! Keep it up!
And to Me and Gaara 4ever, I just finished writing a really emotional chapter for poor Gaara. (I'm typing it up on my compie first, then copy paste. So I'm several chapter ahead of you.) So he will cry more. Save that pent up anger!
And to Thomas Drovin, Yup! I like to kill two birds with one stone. ^.^v
And to the GrimSpeck18, I thought you'd like that. Just wait. It does get better.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters etc. You know the drill.
Chapter Twelve: Collision of Artists
"Alright, we'll be done with most of your chakra training tomorrow. You should take a rest," Sakura sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Fred had been training her elemental power with her chakra for the past three days, making her ability to look more and more like the first hokage's. Today, she was learning gen-jutsu by creating a fake forest, and it had tired her out. She nodded to her teacher, and then left for her apartment.
As soon as she got back, she changed into a pair of blue jeans and a normal t-shirt. She quickly decided to get back to her art, so she grabbed one of her canvases, her paints, her easel, her brushes, and her paint pallet. She walked out to the field that she and her friends used to always meet at. It happened to have the best view of the local mountains and forests, not to mention a waterfall if you looked hard enough.
She had actually wanted to paint that waterfall, and she had enough time today, so she followed the sound of flowing water till she found the familiar stream. She ran up river with her supplies until she found the breath-taking waterfall. As soon as she located a good spot, she set up her easel, placed her canvas on it, along with a brush. She set up her pallet and started the under-sketch for her painting. As soon as she was done with that, she started mixing her colors and painting the picture she had drawn in a full spectrum of colors.
She was about halfway done when she heard some leaves rustle behind her. She turned quickly to see a pasty white man with medium length black hair, and dull black eyes standing right over her shoulder. People who watched her work over her shoulder always creeped her out. This little experience was no different. It was almost as bad as someone sticking their feet in her face, another thing that drove her crazy.
"What the Hell are you doing?" Fred shrieked at the man.
"I'm admiring you hideous art work," he replied with a dead-pan voice that was oddly cheery.
Fred's jaw dropped at the comment. "EXCUSE ME!?" she yelled at him, getting up from her chair.
"Alright, you're excused," he replied in the same voice.
"Woah, woah, woah, woah. Who the fuck are you to judge my artwork? I happened to be top of my art classes in all my schools!" Fred stated, royally pissed off with his whole manner. "And who the fuck are you anyway? I don't think I've ever met you before, so there's no reason to be rude!"
"My name is Sai, and I happen to be a fellow artist, the best actually," he replied, quite serious this time.
"Well, Sai, you still have no room judge my artwork that way. It looks exactly like the scene!" Fred stated, which was true. It looked like a photo.
"Yeah, but there's no life to it," Sai debated. "My best art is alive. Yours is – inanimate."
"What are you talking about?" Fred asked. "It looks picture perfect. What do you mean by alive?"
"This," Sai replied while pulling out a scroll and painting a lion on it. As soon as the lion was finished, it jumped off the page, literally. It then turned into normal ink in a puddle on the grass.
"Ri-ight," Fred scowled. "Well, I may not have the ability to make stick figures come alive, but at least my art isn't stick figures."
"Are you ugly bitches always so jealous?" Sai asked.
"EXCUSE ME!?" Fred screeched. "Did you just call me an UGLY BITCH!?"
Sai smiled and replied, "Yes. I like ugly bitches."
… Uh-oh she could hear Cherokee state in the back of her mind. Fred scowled, not really wanting an audience.
Fred glared at the man in front of her. If she could kill someone with her mind, it would be him at the moment. "I think you should leave before something bad happens," Fred growled.
"What bad could come from this?" Sai asked.
"You pissing me off so terribly that the local authorities won't be able to find your body once I'm through with you, is what bad could happen," She snarled. She had her fists clenched at her sides, so as not to hurt him just yet.
Yeah, you go girl! Cherokee cheered.
Would you be quiet please!? Fred snapped.
"Your funny," Sai smiled. Then he turned and walked away, waving to her and saying, "I'll see you later."
Fred was so angry her eyes were twitching. "For your sake, I hope not," Fred growled at him. "Crazy mo-fo!" she muttered to herself. She turned back to her painting, and suddenly wasn't in the mood to paint anymore. Currently, she just wanted to punch something. She quickly packed up her things and stormed away from the waterfall. In the back of her mind, she could hear Cherokee laughing like a hyena. Shut up she snarled, which just made Cherokee laugh louder.
Shikamaru and Rox had been hanging out at Rox's apartment in the afternoon. She had just finished her tree training, and they decided to start elemental chakra training tomorrow. They had been having a grand old time, telling each other stories of stuff that had happened to them over the years. Over the past week, they had grown closer and were almost like best friends.
"Oh, no," Rox laughed. "I have a story that could beat the one you just told me." Shikamaru looked at her in a challenging way. "Well one time, I got so mad at my brother that I threw a book at him, and …"
Just then, someone knocked at the door. Rox excused herself, and ran to answer the door. On her doorstep stood a mail-man-nin, which made Rox laugh. She had no idea that they actually looked that ridiculous. "A letter for you, miss," the mail-nin stated, handing her an envelope.
She quickly got over her giggles and replied, "Thank you." She took the letter and shut the door, turning back to Shikamaru. Instantly, she recognized the handwriting. "It's from Cordi," she smiled as she sat down in the same seat as before.
Quickly she opened it and read its contents, which went as follows:
"Dear Rox,
We just got back in Suna around noon today, which is rather quick. I should probably say "Noon, three days ago," or four, because it'll be that time by the time you get it. But I digress. I have only been here half a day, and it's already crazy! I need your help.
Alright, you need the back-up story before I go into what the hell happened today. The first time I arrived in Suna, I noticed there was something going on between Gaara and Matsuri, and maybe even between Kankuro and Matsuri, but I wasn't sure. So I asked Gaara about it, and apparently Gaara and Matsuri had been SECRETLY dating for several months, because she didn't want all the publicity. I know strange, because I couldn't see them together in the comic until I actually saw them together in real life. But anyway, as soon as we got back today, guess what happened. Gaara found out Matsuri was cheating on him with Kankuro in the worst way possible. He walked in on them having – you know – in Gaara's office on his desk.
When Gaara got home about five hours later, he was drunk off his ass, but sober enough to walk and understand what was going on. He told me about Matsuri cheating on him … well, actually I guessed, which got him pissed off that I had known and didn't say anything to him earlier about it because I didn't have proof. I got him to calm down after a while and discuss his options. Thankfully, I was able to talk him out of killing Kankuro. He told me that he was in love with Matsuri, and I questioned him on it. He failed to answer, but I think he's in denial about failing now.
So, obviously when Kankuro got home, I had to question him, because I knew how to do it right. If Gaara did it, he'd probably kill him, and Temari probably wouldn't even question him. I proved to Gaara, because I had him eavesdrop while I quizzed Kankuro, that Gaara had no reason to be angry at Kankuro because technically Gaara was the other guy! Kankuro and Matsuri had been dating a little over a year, and they had kept it secret because apparently her aunt, her guardian, didn't like him! So obviously Kankuro became a mess because I had to give him the news so coldly. So now I think I've fractured my friendship with Kankuro.
Anyway, after that, I found out where Matsuri lives. So I walked down there and punched her in the face. I think I might have broken her nose, but I don't know. Once I got back, both Kankuro and Gaara got pissed off that I had gone down there and hurt her. Although, I quickly became Temari's hero, because she hasn't liked Matsuri for a long time. The guys have ignored me for the past couple hours, so I think I've pissed them off. So now I feel bad. Hopefully all their anger with me will have blown over by Kankuro's birthday celebration in a couple days. It would be a real downer if it didn't.
I really just needed to vent, and Temari's asleep, and since the guys won't listen to me, and I think it would be in TERRIBLE taste to vent this to them, you were the best choice. Please, tell the others what happened, but keep it on the down low, because I'm telling you guys in confidence. Tell them I say hi, as does Aleera, and to keep us in your thoughts. We'll be needing it. Because seriously? I have never seen grown men cry like that before. I love you and I'll see you around!
Your Sister,
Cordi
(I mean, only if you couldn't figure out who I was earlier. Come on!)"
"Oh my god, that sucks!" Rox stated after she finished reading.
"Well, what happened?" Shikamaru asked. So, Rox restated everything that was in the contents of the letter to him. When she finished, he nodded and said, "Oh, well that does suck. So, what happened?"
"What do you mean 'What happened?' I just told you!" Rox scolded, slightly annoyed that he wasn't listening.
"No, about the book. You threw it at your brother, so what happened?" Shikamaru asked.
"OH!!" Rox half laughed half sighed, feeling completely stupid with her mistake. "Well, my mom made me read it, and then had me write a book report on it. And this was back when I hated reading!" Shikamaru laughed at the story, and then half sighed. "I really should talk to the rest of the group about this letter. She'd like to hear their input," Rox stated, getting up from her comfortable seat. Shikamaru got up too and stretched.
"I'll see you later then," Shikamaru smiled as he walked out.
"See you," Rox replied. As soon as he was out, she found some paper and wrote notes to everyone to meet her at Ichiraku's. She taped them to each of her friends' doors, then left for the famed restaurant.
Rox had been sitting at Ichiraku's for a little while when Fred stomped in, growling about something Rox couldn't quite hear. She sat down and mumbled for a Chicken and Shrimp ramen. It came to her quickly.
"Was everyone else on their way?" Rox asked. Fred grumbled a no and slurped some ramen which had just been handed to her. Rox knew Fred wasn't normally like this, so she asked, "What's wrong?"
Fred pursed her lips, as if about to answer, but still thinking of the words to use. But just then Lynne and Ronni came running in, apologizing for the tardiness. "So, what's up?" Lynne asked, grabbing a seat next to Rox. Ronni grabbed a seat next to Fred and looked at the rest of the group in earnest.
"Well, I got a letter from Cordi today, and this is what she said…" Rox stated. She continued with what Cordi had written about, explaining the situation going on in Suna. "I think she may want us to write back, and if so, she'll probably want suggestions on what she should do. Any ideas?"
They all frowned, except Ronni, who said, "Tell her to wait. The guys are hurt, but they'll bounce back eventually. That's the only thing she can do. Oh and keep Matsuri away from them if at all possible. She'll just make it worse."
"You know," Lynne started, "that might be the best information you have ever given."
"Well, I do know some things when it comes to matters of the heart," Ronni stated, angry that the older girls wouldn't believe in some of her ideas.
"Yeah," Fred said in a sarcastically up-beat tone. "It's only on types of men she has issues with. She can never really determine good boyfriends from bad ones."
Ronni frowned at her older sister and slapped her lightly. "Be nice," she ordered. Fred rolled her eyes at her sister taking the high ground.
"Hey, Fred, you seem a little ticked off about something," Rox stated. "What's wrong?"
Fred sighed and said, "Well, I had a run in with this guy named Sai. I really shouldn't say guy, but asshole. He insulted me and my artwork for no reason. And called me an ugly bitch. An UGLY BITCH!" Lynne laughed. "What's so funny!?" Fred snarled.
"Did he tell you he liked ugly bitches?" Lynne smiled. Fred's eyebrows furrowed as she nodded her head. "He says that to almost everybody. I say almost because the people he doesn't say that to is guys. Instead, he remarks on how small their penises are most likely." Lynne started to chuckle by the end of her remark.
Fred looked at her like she was crazy. "And they allow that?" Fred asked as if it was against all common sense.
"Well yeah. He actually turns out to be okay, kinda creepy, but an okay guy if you get to know him. It's because he was part of a secret section of Anbu, and he doesn't really understand how normal humans interact," Lynne explained.
"And you know this how?" Fred asked.
"She watched Shippuden," Rox explained in a bored tone.
"Oh," Fred said noncommittally.
"Man, you guys are so lucky," Lynne sighed. Everyone looked at her strangely. "You've all met the guys you liked in the show," Lynne stated. "Rox is friends with Shikamaru. Cordi is friends with Gaara. Ronni is friends with Kiba. And now Fred has Sai."
"Uh, I never liked any of the guys on this show," Fred stated. "I preferred having real boyfriends."
"Haha, well that won't help now," Rox smiled.
Ronni frowned then looked at her sister, "You didn't even watch the show. Not that much anyway," Ronni recollected.
"But you have a guy now you can talk to," Lynne stated.
"Well, you can have him," Fred laughed. "He's an asshole."
"He wasn't my favorite," Lynne smiled. "So he's yours." Fred frowned and turned back to her ramen. "But I highly doubt I'll see him. He doesn't live here anymore," Lynne added, her face falling slightly at the prospect of never getting to meet the one and only Sasuke Uchiha.
AN: Yeah, Lynne is so lonely. Oh well… Right? You'll find out her story later… it has yet to start. Yeah, if you hadn't noticed, I'm having mini stories intertwined with the main plot. You know, like Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, same kind of set up. Alright, everyone, remember to review!!!