The next morning, Arini's eyes fluttered open to the gentle nudging of a woman hovering over her bed.

"Naruhana-san, it's time to wake up," the woman urged. Blinking, Arini slowly sat up, and winced as the bright daylight spilling through her window greeted her eyes.

"Sorry, Naruhana-san. I'll wake you up first before I open the curtains next time."

"It's fine," Arini mumbled sleepily, pulling her warm quilts close to her. She tried to rub away the sleepiness in her eyes and looked around, dazed. The housekeeper was prancing around the room busily as she reorganized papers and books on the desk and picked up pieces of trash off the floor.

"I ironed your uniform," the housekeeper spoke up helpfully. Arini's gaze sidled over to the open closet, where a crisp uniform hung readily.

'''Kay," Arini muttered, closing her eyes again and rolling over in her bed.

"Do you want me to bring it to you?"

"Please."

The housekeeper scurried over with the uniform in her hands and offered it to Arini.

"Thanks."

Nodding politely, the woman returned to her chores. After a few minutes, she wrapped it up and exited the room. Arini sat up again and glanced briefly at the uniform. Sighing, she changed quickly and headed to the bathroom, her feet making pitter-patter noises across the cold marble floor. She stared at her reflection with distaste, combing her fingers through her hair. The ghastly twisted scar stared back at her. It seemed like a nightmare now, some sick nightmare she could never wake up from. Everyday, she would wake up, and she would have to see it in the mirror, never being able to do anything about it. At least the hospital was merciful. At least the hospital spared her that. In that cramped hospital room, there were no mirrors. There were no people to please, no hair to fix. When she went to the bathroom, she didn't have to look at herself.

But that wasn't how it was at home.

Arini bent down to examine her fingernails, which now seemed an awful lot more interesting than the poor, pitiful girl standing in the mirror.

After a while, she finished her daily routine and emerged into the hallway, a fresh coat of makeup slathered onto her face, her hair neatly brushed. She descended the staircase carefully, weaving her way through the maze of rooms to reach the dining room. A long, rectangular table took up most of the space in the room, and while many seats symmetrically lined the sides, only three places had actually been set, complete with silverware. And two of those places were already occupied. One of the occupants was a woman with ebony black hair tied up into an elegant updo. Her eyes seemed to scrutinize everything around her, she being the prissy, prudish character she always was. A scarlet dress wrapped itself snugly around her body--no doubt tailored especially for herself. She drummed her fingers lightly on the table, making odd clacking noises that drew attention to her perfect French manicure. Beside her, on one end of the table, a pair of large, square hands clutched at pages of newspaper that covered the occupant himself entirely.

"Good morning, Mom, Dad," Arini offered politely as she slid into the seat next to her father, who had his nose buried in some ridiculously long article. Across from her, her mother gave a slight nod to acknowledge her presence.

"Arini." The newspapers dropped to reveal a very stiff-looking man. He looked to be maybe in his thirties, but he was actually already well into his fifties. Even old as he was, he probably didn't look bad at all to other women still. "Good. We need to have a little talk." Oh yes, and he was also the vice-head of a very big company.

Arini silently stared at her fork, waiting for him to continue.

"You've been skipping classes a lot." His words were blunt, to the point. That's how her father always was. "That's got to stop. Do you understand?"

Warningwarningwarning. That was what his tone screamed. Arini never liked her father's warning tone. It meant something bad would happen if she crossed him. So she stared down at her lap and nodded. "I'm sorry, Dad. I'll try harder."

"Good." His tone resumed a happier, more cheerful tone. "I know Ame High School isn't a choice that would be too high on either of our lists of schools you could attend, but circumstances make things difficult, and I'd like you to try."

Circumstances. That was what he called it. He actually meant that Ame High School was the only school around the area willing to bend to the lure of money, under the complete control of Arini's father like a dog to jump whenever he needed them to. Yes, shove a fistful of bills in their faces, and Ame would do whatever you'd like them to do. That's how things were with the newspapers, too. Arini's father had a very tight leash on what the newspapers printed, and he made absolutely sure no names were included in the article that was printed about her accident. No details, either. Arini looking the way she did? The world could never know about that.

"Alright, Dad," Arini mumbled.

Her father noddded his approval briskly before returning to his article. There were a few minutes of awkward silence then, Arini staring down, her father reading, her mother studying her nails. And then servants rushed into the room with silver platters of hot food, setting them down very carefully on the table. Her father decided to break the silence then, papers lowered as he turned to his wife and said, "Dear, the stories in here are getting crazier and crazier by the week. Did you know that..."

Arini stopped listening, gazing intently at her plate as she chewed a mouthful of scrambled eggs vigorously. Finish eating, get out of here, out of here, out of here, her brain sang. And as soon as the last of the food on her plate had disappeared down her throat, Arini rose and mumbled very quickly, "May I be excused? School and all...", but her parents weren't listening anyways, so she left.

When she was in the limousine, finally escaped from the uncomfortable breakfast, she breathed a sigh of relief. There. That wasn't so bad. She had known she would eventually be confronted for cutting class so many times, but she didn't know how furious he would be. Her father greatly disliked irresponsible people, but all he had gotten to was his warning tone. Nothing else beyond that, luckily.

As the limo pulled into the school, Arini became faintly aware of unusual clutters of people gathered, whispering and pointing at something she couldn't make out. Hesitantly, she stepped out of the car. The swarms of students gave her side glances like they did everyday, but they seemed more focused on something else today. Arini's ride drove away, and she looked around uncertainly for something--anything--that would give her a clue about the source of disturbnce. She didn't have to look too hard; she spotted it almost immediately as she followed the gazes of the crowd.

Another dark limo had apparently pulled up into the school, but she had been so absorbed with replaying this morning's breakfast that she had hardly noticed. But there it was, sticking out like a sore thumb as it sat parked near the gates. And outside of the limo, a pink-haired girl stood, waiting patiently for something--and she wore the familiar red-and-green uniform of Konoha Prep.

Konoha Preporatory School. Konoha brats, the people from Ame liked to call the students there. Konoha Prep, generally, was a very prestigious school, widely known for its excellent curriculum and the well-groomed people that graduated from the school, who later on moved on to become important figures in the world. No, there weren't some ridiculously difficult entrance exams you had to pass, if that's what you happened to be thinking. Everyone who attended the school just happened to be rich.

Arini was actually supposed to attend Konoha Prep.

But because of Circumstances, her father decided she'd be better off at Ame High instead.

The pink-haired girl checked her watch, then leaned over to whisper something through the open window at the front of the limousine. She straightened herself again, then held up her hand in a wave as the car drove away. The girl was on her own now. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, and marched onwards. The crowds exploded into an excited buzz.

What was this girl here for? Konoha Prep? What would they have to do here? To Konoha brats, Ame was a dump.

Heads craned, and many started to silently creep after her, trying to find out what was going on--but it was at that moment that the bell chose to rang. Groans were exchanged, and with shoulders slumped, the crowd began to disperse, heading off to first period.

Arini remained, standing there.

She was frozen stiff with curiosity. Should she head to class, or follow the girl? Instinct immediately overwhelmed her, and before she was even aware of it, she was scrambling after the pink-haired girl. Arini spotted her brightly-colored hair right away, and walking as quietly as possible, they rounded the school together. Twice, the girl turned around to look behind her, a confused look on her face that obviously told Arini that she had been noticed, but she always resumed her roaming not too long afterwards.

But there was that moment when the girl stopped completely, and hesitated. She spun her head around, but Arini had ducked behind a tree. Then the girl suddenly tore through a huddle of forestry nearby. Feeling oddly nosy, Arini did her best to follow. But the girl seemed more cautious now, and she made so many twists and turns that Arini eventually lost her. And when she realized this, she slowed in her steps completely and sighed quietly. Well, that's one mystery never to be solved.

Still, she had to get out of these trees. Small branches and thorny plants kept poking and prodding at her, and she didn't feel at all in the best of shapes. Glancing around uncertainly, she made a smooth loop around the trees and then--

There. She was out. Breathing with relief, Arini shook the leaves from her hair and stepped out into the daylight. Then stepped back.

The neon flash of pink was unmistakable, and her intuition had yet to fail her--because there, in the opening, the girl was very clearly there. The opening happened to be a spot enveloped in the shadow of the school building, so it was relatively cool--and for that reason, Arini didn't feel all that surprised when she spotted another person sprawled out on the ground. What she was startled to find, however, was that she recognized the person as the redhead--that Akatsuki member--who sat next to her in Human Anatomy.

"You found me." He spoke boredly, completely uninterested. He didn't even look the pink-haired in the eye as he stared up--up at what? The roof, the sky...Arini couldn't tell.

"Of course. I know you best," the girl said, smiling weakly. She was sitting in the sort of position Arini had been forced to sit in while practicing tea ceremony, with her hands folded across her lap and everything.

"Not really." The redhead glanced at her. "I know myself best."

"O-oh. That's true." Nervously, the girl reached up and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. It suddenly occurred to Arini that this girl, sitting in the position she was, in front of the Akatsuki member, that she almost seemed to be trying to appeal to him.

"Why are you here?" He was blunt. Too blunt, maybe, because the girl immediately looked pained.

"Sasori...Sasori, Sasori, Sasori..." she closed her eyes, repeating the word over and over again, as if she liked the way the syllables rolled off her tongue, but also stalling for time to gather the words. "I'm...I'm sorry." The last phrase was small and weak. "I'm so sorry...I...I was wrong, now that I think about it. I...really don't have an excuse. But I was so worried about you, but oh...you never seemed to care about me in the first place, and then Sasuke...Sasuke was just there. It was wrong, I know, so wrong...but you just never seemed to care." She put emphasis on the last word.

Sasori. Was that his name? Arini blinked. And who was Sasuke? The questions that popped into her head immediately made her flush with shame. She had no right to ask these questions, she was only eavesdropping.

"Sakura." He said the word very slowly and deliberately, turning to look the pink-haired girl in the eye. She glimpsed his face and immediately looked down; something in his face, maybe, made her wrench her face in such a heartbreaking way that Arini couldn't help but feel sorry for her. But no, he wouldn't let her look away--he reached out and took hold of her chin, turning her head to meet his gaze. And perhaps, because his hand was now on her, his touch was against her skin, she couldn't look away. "I never did."

She cheated on him. That much, Arini could gather from the conversation they were having. And maybe, when he said those words, she would've expected him to maybe spit them out, look at her with contempt, some clue that he had been hurt by her and he wasn't willing to take her back. But no--the laziness that lingered in his eyes, the firmness with the touch of casualness in his voice, the way his hand nonchalantly slid back to his side and he tilted his head up to look at the sky, said he was telling the absolute truth. Care? He didn't.

Arini turned. She had no right to be watching this. To watch this scene, such an awful moment for that girl, Sakura, was wrong. She shouldn't have even followed her in the first place, but her own curiosity had gotten the better of her. She was about to leave, when she suddenly heard a painful sound. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw that Sakura was crying. Tears streaming down her face, her nose flushing red fast, her expression looking torn. But still, she nodded, and whispered, "I understand." She began to bend down, then hesitated. Then she went ahead and pressed her lips against the red-haired boy, whose gaze was still locked on the sky as their mouths met. She pulled back after only a moment, and choked out again, "I understand. I..."

But Arini didn't hear the rest because she had already took off running into the trees to make her way back to the front of the school. She didn't trust herself anymore. She always caught the most dreadful times to peek in. Why was that?

She would forget all this. Yes, she would forget. It wasn't right. Clearing her mind, Arini burst into the sunshine and breathed sigh of relief. Finally, she had managed to get away.

BRIIIIIING!

Snapping her head to the school building, Arini finally managed to recollect her thoughts, and she realized that she had missed the entire first period. Lovely, and after the talk she had had with her father this morning...

Biting her lip, Arini trodded off to second period.


"I understand," Sakura had said to him, her breath warm in his ears. Did she really? Sasori wondered, watching the salty drops roll down her face. "I..."

But she wouldn't let herself finish then, trying to swallow down all her tears first. They sat there like that for a few minutes, him unmoving, her gasping out sobs and trying to suppress them. Then, in some split second, she controlled herself completely, choking down all her crying, and she looked him squarely in the eye. He saw that her eyes were rimmed with red, her nose was puffy, and her lips were pulled into a sad smile.

"But I loved you," she whispered. Sasori's gaze lingered on her for only a moment more, then turned to look at the clouds. They were so much more simple and rational than that girl in front of him.

That silly, silly girl.


As soon as Arini had seated herself in second period, the empty chair next to her tauntingly reminded her who sat there, and heat rushed to color her cheeks. What if, by chance, he had seen her earlier? Facing him would be mortifying. She'd seem like some girl who had nothing better to do than poke around in other people's lives to him. Not to mention that he was Akatsuki--what would he do to her if he did know?

Her worry faded quickly though. As the minutes dragged on, and as more and more students filed into the classroom, and as the late bell came closer and closer to ringing, the boy called Sasori didn't show. Arini realized then that he might still be busy--he did look very deep in conversation with that girl when she had left them. Relief flooded her veins. Yes, it was very possible he'd skip second period.

Finally, Karasumi-sensei stepped through the door. She glanced at the clock, then briefly surveyed the number of students in the room. She opened her mouth to speak, but the late bell interrupted her--and in mid-ring, the door slid opened again. A redhead quietly sauntered inside.

Arini felt the discomfort settling in her stomach.

The boy--Sasori, the girl had called him--glanced at the teacher, as if daring her to say something. That he was tardy, whether or not he had a pass...when she said nothing, he moved on to his desk. When he plopped down next to her, Arini stiffened. DidheseemeIhopenotbutohmaybeIreallyhopenotdidhe? She watched him warily in the corner of her eye.

He shifted in his seat, he bent forward, he drummed his fingers--he moved plenty, but did nothing to indicate he knew anything about her eavesdropping. In fact, he hardly acknowledged her presence at all; he had taken out a blonde Barbie doll as soon a Karasumi-sensei began the class and started taking her apart.

It was the oddest thing ever, watching such a pretty doll being broken up like that. In fact, it was almost creepy. Arini shuddered and looked away.


That girl next to him. Hanasomething. She had been eyeing him oddly since he walked through that door. She might've thought she was being discreet, but God, it was obvious. Sasori had felt her irritating gaze on him right away. What did she want?

He didn't like people staring at him, especially the way she was staring--so cautiously, waiting for something. So he reached into his pocket and came up with a Barbie doll. Blonde, blunt fringe--good, she'd do. He began tearing out her arms and legs. (It always disturbed people who watched him do it.)

It worked. The table trembled slightly, and then her gaze was somewhere else. Sasori glanced at her now, not quite sure why she had been eyeing him so closely. But something about her struck him right away, and his gaze dawdled. Her chin was held up so high, so regally, as she stared straight ahead. Her sitting position was unusually stiff and straight, with her hands were folded so properly in front of her...and she had the air of a queen. Her disinterest in her surroundings, seeming completely spaced out but also completely composed, probably did that. She looked like she was used to attention, too...used to being pampered. Her hair was straight, too straight, and any wrinkles on her uniform had been neatly repressed.

She was rich. He popped out the head of the Barbie doll. That much was obvious. She was the kind of rich where everything she did made a person feel uncomfortable. Inferior. Shouldn't she be at Konoha Prep? he wondered idly.

"Alright class, get out the notes we took yesterday on the cardiovascular system. Remember that diagram you copied down of the heart? Too bad for you if you didn't, because you're going to need it!" Karasumi-sensei was saying. "We're going to take a closer look today at the human heart by opening up one!"

Shrieks of "WHAT?!" filled the classroom.

"Just kidding. I mean, I'd do it if it wasn't illegal..." she smiled playfully. "Anyways, we're going to dissect the closest thing to a human heart. Can anyone guess what it is?"

Shrugs and quiet mumbles were exchanged.

Karasumi-sensei reached behind her desk and plopped a big jar of something onto her desk. "Sheep hearts!" she announced.

The classroom exploded into choruses of "eeeeeew" and "Oh, gross!"

The big jar was, sure enough, filled with gray and lumpy things that vaguely resembled hearts. "I've got more of these in the back. Narumi-kun, pass out some paper towels, will you? Good, thanks. Now...let's start handing these out, shall we?" She balanced the jar in both hands. "Come on now, take one and move on. If you're too scared by it, get your partner to do it. If your partner doesn't want to do it...well you're on your own, kiddies."

Sasori immediately glanced up from his busy clacking of body parts just as Karasumi-sensei passed by. "Come on, come on!" she was still saying. He took one and returned to putting the Barbie back together as she moved on to the girl beside him.

"Come on, Naruhana-san, don't be shy," Karasumi-sensei urged. He glanced up, and saw the brunette reluctantly reach into the jar with her right hand and take a heart. She dropped it almost immediately on the paper towel. Clearly, she wasn't fond of internal organs. Shame.

After every student had a sheep heart, worksheets followed. "Alright, tool trays are in the back. If you have your worksheets, go and get one."

"Are you going to get it, or should I?"

He looked up from his work with the doll. The girl--Naruhana or something--was staring at him. He considered answering, but shrugged off the idea, and tried to roll the left leg back in place.

"..." She made some unidentifiable noise, then scooted her chair back. Within the next few seconds, she had gotten up and retrieved a tray, balancing it in her right hand as she made her way back. She plunked it down onto the table, and the place beside him was occupied again. She turned now to look at her notes, studying the diagrams and labels closely. But as she switched her attention from her notebook to the sheep heart lying in front of her, her elbow suddenly knocked her books over her desk, and they came crashing down onto the floor.

"Oh..." she sounded frustrated, and bent down to pick them up again. One by one, with her right hand.

There's a limit to righthandedness. And picking up fallen books with only one hand? There was something wrong with her left arm. Broken, sprained, maybe? He kept that to himself though, just in case. (He just couldn't help being overly observant; it was a habit.)

"Okay, you guys can go ahead and start cutting the thing up whenever you're ready!" the teacher declared.

Loud talking began, and the rustling of pages filled the room. Sasori didn't budge his concentration as he worked on putting the doll back together.

"Ummm..." that Naruhana girl mumbled softly. She was eyeing the heart in front of her uncertainly, then her gaze was on him again. "I...can you..." Gulp. "...help me...?"

Well. She was certainly a lot stupider than even Deidara would've imagined. He looked at her, a small simper on his lips, then looked back down again. She was also...well, funny. Her stupidity would go long ways.

His smug look must've breached her nerves, because then she huffed, fear forgotten. "Look, is something wrong with me?" She pointed a slender finger to her chest as she spoke--a finger that he could break in half at any time. "You keep looking at me."

This time, Sasori didn't look up at all. There was no need to.

"If you have a problem with me, you can just say it," she told him, quiet fury seeping into her expression.

The small warning in her tone made him look up. And now he just stared at her. Was she really demanding something from him?

"Did you..." His stare must've been making her uneasy, because she faltered. "Did you see me earlier? I...didn't mean to...see..."

He stared at her blankly as she bent her head down in redfaced shame. Then he picked up his doll again and popped the other leg joint in.

"I'm sorry, really!" she babbled now. "I was just curious, and she...well, I didn't know...and I..." Her right hand was fiddling with the hem of her skirt nervously now...and her left stayed limp.

POP.

A sound suddenly different from the constant clicking of parts back into the doll made the Naruhana girl stare at him again. He was now clasping the left arm of the Barbie that he had slid back into place three minutes ago. He rolled it onto her desk, then turned to heart lying on her desk. "So you just want me to cut this up for you, right?"

Well, why not? She deserved it; she really was such a great laugh.


Arini just stared, the cold fear trickling into her body. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out, so she shut it again. Her gaze locked on the offending doll part, she sat, frozen in place.

How did he know?

She glanced down at her left arm. It wasn't that noticeable, was it? It shouldn't have been. The severed nerves in her arm was supposed to be an internal problem, not physical. The doctor said so. The doctor promised. So then, how did he--

A deafening sound of impact. An earsplitting shriek filling the air--who was it coming from? Her...? Impossible. Then shadows tip-toeing to her side, snaking their arms around her neck, cradling her to sleep, and she finally succumbing...

It wasn't until the images stopped flashing in front of her eyes that she realized she was squeaking. Shivering, Arini blinked.

And found herself in her Human Anatomy class, the students around her poking and prodding at sheep hearts.

She inhaled, feeling her body relax. She was in class. In school. Those images--they weren't now. They were long gone. Would never happen again. Gonegonegone.

As her hands slid back to her side, she realized she had been clutching at her head again. She looked down, the warmth surging to her fingertips. Goodness, she must've looked so pathetic…it was extremely lucky no one saw that--

Oh, no.

Suddenly remembering her lab partner, she swiveled her head to face him.

He had been staring at her, his sleepy gaze focused on her. Even when her gaze met his, he stared at her. Then, very calmly, very carefully, he returned his stare to the sheep heart in front of him. And picking up a pair of scissors from the tray, he made a few smooth incisions on the organ before pushing it back to her.

"Question number one," he told her evenly.

She kept staring at him dumbly. But he had returned now to the Barbie doll, smoothing his fingers over her body as if to make sure he had put her together properly. So Arini awkwardly turned to the sheep heart, and realized that for question number one, she had to draw out something.

Hurriedly, she scribbled down a sketch and pushed the heart back to him. She had been ready to say something to get his attention, tell him she was done--but he had already looked up and taken the pair of scissors again.

And so it was like that for the next half hour. Passing the heart back and forth between them, him cutting it up, her scribbling down the answers. And when she finally finished, she set down her pencil, and blinked--only blinked, honest to God--and then the packet was gone.

She turned to Sasori, and sure enough--he had it, opening his own packet to copy down her answers.

She opened her mouth to say something--but then clamped it shut. He had helped her, right? It shouldn't matter. So she didn't say anything at all, instead watching him as he scribbled down answer after answer.

He wrote fast. He turned the pages quickly, more quickly than it probably should've taken. And then he was done, so he set it back down in front of her, then proceeded to take the pair of scissors to cut up his own sheep heart.

"Um...thanks," she mumbled. "I didn't think you'd actually…help me. I mean…you didn't look like you wanted to. So…thanks."

He didn't say anything at all to that, just kept tearing through the sheep heart. Then he glanced up at her, still working. "Can you laugh?"

She blinked rapidly. What? "What?"

"Never mind." His gaze was back on the heart.

Feeling like she had just failed a test, Arini stared down at her lap.


She didn't look like she could laugh.

Sasori didn't think so, anyways.

Her lips didn't even look they could smile. No, she always looked too sad for it.

He finished cutting up the heart and set it to the side. It was probably pointless to cut it up at all, but it'd look suspicious if he just had a whole, untouched sheep heart, right?

"Alright, class. When you're done, you can throw away your hearts and bring your packets up to me."

The Naruhana girl beside him rose, packet in hand, so he thrusted his own to her as well. She stared at him, confused for a moment, then hesitated before taking it.

"Um…can you throw my heart away for me?"

Her question hung in the air, and so finally, the left corner of his mouth quirked up. "Fine."

"Thank you." She scurried away.

Slowly, he wrapped the hearts up in the paper towels, then turned to dump them in the trash can. While he was doing that, the bell rang.

Students quickly wrapped up their cleaning and poured out of the classroom. Sasori took his time still, stalking over to the sink to wash his hands. When he came back to his desk, the Naruhana girl was already gone.

As he was collecting his belongings, he realized she had taken the Barbie arm with her.

Hm. Funny girl.

He walked out of the classroom.


I wish I could have another left arm.

As she hurried out into the hallways, Arini remembered the wish she had had during the first few months of hospitalization. She stared at the small arm in her hand. She hadn't meant to take it with her. She still didn't even know why she did. It wasn't like he even really gave it to her. Besides…it was sort of like an insult, right? It seemed like he knew there was something wrong with her left arm, and…

But he didn't seem deriding when he set it onto her desk. He just didn't.

And now…well when she had made that wish, she didn't exactly mean it that way. Not a Barbie arm. A real, actual arm. Made of flesh and blood, not plastic.

But somehow…somehow, this worked, too.

She stuffed it into her pocket.


"What are you doing?" Deidara stared critically at Sasori.

They were on the rooftop. Third period, Akatsuki meeting.

Sasori had taken the blonde Barbie out and was busily coloring in her hair with a brown Sharpie, so he didn't answer at first. But then, after he finished a streak, he did. "Making a clown."

"Huh?"

"…"

He kept coloring the doll's hair.

"Where's her arm, man? That's freaky."

"...Never mind."

Deidara wouldn't understand. He never did.