::Silent Confessions::

I quietly drank my orange juice, feeling the cool liquid slide down my throat. It was Friday today, which meant there wasn't going to be a group activity, which meant that I had to spend a day with Sasuke. Just the two of us. According to the new schedule, all assistants had to spend every Friday alone with their charges. It was just announced by the higher-ups last week. Thinking back, this would be the first time Sasuke and I were going to be alone together in the 3 weeks I started helping out. I already felt awkward just thinking of it. I could easily get along with Tenten, even Naruto and Lee, but Sasuke...it was pretty much like talking to a post, well he doesn't actually talk. Nevermind.

"...Hinata? Hinata!"

I realized that Neji was talking to me. I blushed crimson red, "E-rm, sorry Neji-nii." I muttered, bowing my head slightly. Neji gave a worried look, "Are you alright?" he asked, raising a single eyebrow. I left the table after reassuring him that I was okay for the tenth time. Grabbing my bag, I went to Sakura's house.

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Sakura drove us to GLA, once the three of us entered, we bid each other goodbye and parted ways. Sakura to the medical wing, Ino to her charge and I went to Sasuke's room. It dawned onto me that I had already memorized the route to Sasuke's room because it was just a few doors past the Activity room. In just a few minutes, I was already in front of Sasuke's room. I quickly straightened by white and black blouse before knocking on the door. The sound of the knock resounded through the empty corridor, I waited for the door to open but it did not. I blinked and lifted my hand, ready to knock a second time but before I could move, the door opened and Sasuke emerged from the room. I felt the blood rush to my head and I knew I was blushing again, instead of saying anything, I stepped aside and let Sasuke exit his room and close his door.

"Errm, g-good morning Sasuke-san." I greeted, I resisted the urge to play with my fingers; I needed to break the habit, the stuttering too. I focused my attention on Sasuke again, he was scribbling something on that notebook of his. "Call me Sasuke, drop the suffix."

"O-oh!" I stammered; I didn't expect him to ask me to drop the formalities. "Okay then Sasuke." I managed to stop myself from saying "-san" again. I took a look at Sasuke; he seemed to be prepared. He was already dressed; he wore a simple blue shirt and dark denim jeans. "Do you have any place you would like to go?" I asked him; I did not have a clue on where to go. But it looked like it was one of her lucky days today; Sasuke had nodded and took the lead, me trailing behind closely. The chances of him running off were quite low though, but it still; you never know.

I almost bumped into him when he stopped abruptly; good thing I had...passable reflexes. I peeked over his shoulder; I had to stand on the tips of my toes, and saw that we were inside the music room again. "Oh, so this is where you had in mind." I said quietly, not that I was complaining. Sasuke wordlessly nodded and went to where the violins were. I also took the cue and sat on the piano bench, my back facing the piano keys; I would watch Sasuke first. A few moments later, he started to play. I realized that he was playing "Canon in D Major". He opened one eye and look at me expectantly. I quickly turned to the piano and joined in.

I couldn't help but close my eyes when I the music we made blended together. It created a harmonious and beautiful melody that filled the small room. I bet the sound could be heard outside the room. My nimble fingers pressed the black and white keys faster as the crescendo came. As we were nearing the end of the piece, the door suddenly opened and I saw the red-headed girl I bumped into. Her eyes instantly landed on Sasuke and pink dusted her cheeks. 'Well, it seems Sasuke has some admirers.' I thought to myself, still playing on the piano, I didn't blame her; Sasuke was very attractive. The girl's eyes landed on me and I saw her scowl from the corner of my eye. So she was jealous type.

When we finish, she applauded; probably just for Sasuke. "Oh Sasuke! That was beautiful!" she complimented, wiping non-existent tears from her eye. If Ino or Sakura was here, they'd probably gag, I wanted to after seeing that sickeningly sweet tone the redhead used. I looked at Sasuke and saw that he was having the same thoughts as me. A frown decorated his face and annoyance was clearly reflected in his eyes. He didn't seem to like this girl very much; who would though? She was, for a lack of better word, a fake. She'd put on a smile and bat her eyelashes at the person she found attractive; which was Sasuke and then send a seething glare at people who she found an obstacle; who was apparently me.

I then saw Sasuke send me a look that blatantly said "HELP ME". I fidgeted for a moment, but Sasuke glared at me a told me to hurry up. I hesitantly walked up to the redhead who was currently trying to latch onto Sasuke's arm, "E-excuse me miss, but today is Friday. I'm supposed to spend the day alone with my charge, S-sasuke." I silently praised myself for not stuttering so much.

The redhead's face changed from flirtatious to speechlessness to annoyance in less than three seconds. Is she bipolar or something? The redhead sighed, "Tch. Oh yes, I forgot." she said, frowning "The person who's supposed to be in charge of me is nowhere to be seen." she said spitefully. She changed mood again; she was now smiling, "Well goodbye, see you Sasuke-kuuuun~" she dragged out and exited the room.

Sasuke visibly relaxed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, to stop a headache. He wrote something and showed it to me, "Thank you." it said in black ink. "Err, you're welcome?" I replied, "Who was she?" I asked.

Soon, Sasuke's reply came, "Karin. She's a patient here; apparently she's bipolar...and I'm her current obsession."

I gave Sasuke a look that showed I pitied him. The corner of his mouth twitched, which meant he might have been holding back a smile.

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We spent our time in the music room, playing song after song until we got tired and decided to talk. Errr, it was me who was talking actually, Sasuke wrote. But something interesting happened, I accidentally bit my lip hard, which caused it to bleed. Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw the red blood that drip downed my chin. I noticed this and hastily wiped it off, saying I was okay. But Sasuke's shocked expression was frozen on his face, his breathing quickened and his shoulders began shaking. "Sasuke...? Sasuke?!" I cried out. 'He's hyperventilating.' I realized. I put my hands on his shoulders and shook him, "Sasuke, listen to me! Calm down! Y-you're heartbeat's too fast!"

SLAP!

I didn't know what came over me; I just...panicked. Sasuke's shoulder's stopped shaking and he gaped at me, I looked at my hand which was still in the air. I just slapped Sasuke. But it worked though, his breathing started to return to normal and his skin wasn't as cold as before. "A-are you o-kay now Sasuke-kun?" The suffix -kun slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it. But Sasuke didn't seem to mind, he just nodded.

I had a clue of what Sasuke's problem was, he seemed to have experienced a traumatic event in the past, which probably made him stoic and silent. What was it called again? Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? I should have listened to that doctor who gave us asisstants a summarized background of mental disorders.

What Sasuke did next surprised me; he leaned on my shoulder and wrote hastily on his notebook, penmanship rushed. After a few minutes he handed the notebook to me and I gasped. It was the painful experience he had, the one that caused him to be like this.

"I don't know why I'm telling you this, I just felt like you were the best person to confide in. It all started when I was 12, my brother...killed my family. My WHOLE family. My parents were killed gruesomely, right before my eyes. He then smiled at me wickedly, he had a crazed look in his eyes. Then he...stabbed himself in the heart and died."

I gasped, I felt like vomiting. I could imagine the scene in my head. I felt great sadness for Sasuke. I felt something went through the sleeve of my shirt; I realized Sasuke was crying. I wordlessly wrapped my arms around him and patted his back comfortingly, whispering words of comfort in his ear. I then realized that he smelled like apples, it was very intoxicating. She liked apples, next to oranges."I won't leave." I said.

Sasuke then did something that surprised me to the core; he laughed. His shoulders shook and he made dry, heaving sounds. "H-aahaa-a....hah-haha-haaa....h-h-aaaa!" he laughed with tears streaming down his face, "T-t-tha-nk y-you-u, Hi-nat-a." he said, his voice was hoarse but sounded nice nonetheless. I had made him laugh. Me, little-ol-me, the quiet Hinata Hyuuga, made Sasuke laugh. I had a reason to cry happily now. So we did, we sat on the floor of the music room of a mental asylum, crying tears of joy. My summer wasn't that dull anymore, I realized.

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Well, that brings ASV to an end! I don't care that the ending was kinda rushed and sappy. I'm just happy I finished this. Hahaha, so could you kindly press that button below and review?