"Hn."
"Hn."
"Annoying."
"Tch."
"Aa."
"Hn."
"Whatever."
"Annoying."
"Annoying."
"Hn."
"I'm sorry to burst your Neanderthal bubble," I speak up, drinking in his irritated state with patience that had been tested one too many times. "But I'd very much appreciate it if you'd expand your vocabulary."
Sasuke rolls his charcoal eyes, before he swipes one of my whole meal biscuits and bites into it rather roughly. He cringes a little due to no doubt the taste, when he leans in and guides the water bottle in my hand towards his lips before tilting it and swallowing down two mouthfuls.
"When I accepted you into my gang, I did not plan on sharing stuff with you," I quip dryly, much like my biscuits, as I wipe the brim of the bottle.
"Your point?"
"Well gosh Sasuke-kun, are you tired of all the attention to the point where you'd abuse your potential accomplice?"
He stares at me with a practiced glare, and I respond with a wide smile, only for him to struggle in holding his contempt in place before he smirks back.
"Exactly; don't fight a losing battle Uchiha – that's lesson one."
"You won't know unless you try, Kushina."
"Boooooo! Cliché!"
"You'd know a few, I'm sure."
My smile drops as I raise an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Sasuke reclines back on the grass, glancing at the prohibition sign before levelling his eyes on me. "Hn. Annoying."
The bell saves him, is what I try to convince myself to calm down with.
I almost falter in my cool stride as I enter the surprisingly empty classroom, besides this one dude setting up the art supplies. If it weren't for my perfectionist self, I would've thought I made the wrong turn on my way here as one would think the Art Club would be more populated than this.
"Take a seat," he commands, not paying me any mind, and I almost envy the fact that he didn't notice the momentary wickedness that slipped past my walls.
"I'd rather wait for whoever's in charge," I say instead of the many rebuttals swarming in my head, walking towards a board with a few photographs.
"That'd be me," he chuckles humorlessly, and by the chill in my spine, I'd say he was a little closer than before and looking directly at me. I lift a hand and trace the Polaroid picture of a butterfly.
"If that's the case, I'd rather wait until I take you seriously," I respond, proud of the unamused tone of voice I use, as I move towards an image of a Ferris wheel, admiring the dimness of the light casting upon it as it was snapped.
"That's disappointing," he muses boredly, his shoulder a breath away from mine as he stands beside me. I attempt to ignore him and inspect the other photographs, only for him to point at the one of a family building a snowman and draw my attention towards it.
"What do you think of this?" he asks in his gritty voice, though I wondered why he was asking if he didn't seem as interested as he let on.
I take a look at the picture. "From an artistic point of view, it could mean a lot – a depiction of happiness in seemingly hard times, togetherness and bonds, or if you have a dark sense of comprehension – an illusion, like here," I point to what is no doubt the mother, who's holding a carrot for her daughter while staring at her husband adjusting the snowman. "Her smile seems too uniform for it to be happy; it's more of her deluding herself for a moment before going back to her crisis-filled life of no doubt a dysfunctional husband."
I take a deep breath, finally regarding the boy with a pointed look. "From a normal point of view, it is painfully obvious you're just testing me to gauge my worth when in reality, I've already decided I dislike you."
He turns towards me, all tight-lipped. His fawn eyes narrow ever so slightly. I smirk.
"Extension; a photograph is meant to capture a memory, not to waste your time over the hidden message behind it when in all sense of the definition, there should be none."
"Huh," he grunts, turning away abruptly and further messing his already unruly auburn hair. "This is the first time I'm not sure whether I like or dislike someone."
I roll my eyes. "I don't really care, dude."
He turns around slowly, like a cat about to pounce, but his expression is as blank as the canvas propped next to him by the window.
"And another thing," I turn away from the board myself, acknowledging the three desks between us with gratitude. "I didn't come here to have a sorry spat with the club president – I already get enough of that and then some."
He cocks his head, more coyly than curiously, and the whole silent inspection was putting me off.
"That wasn't a request for you to not talk at all you know," I try a different approach, setting down my bag slowly in a display to show I was adamant in staying. "Just don't appreciate the unnecessary inspection thingy."
He laughs, more like a deep dark chuckle, that startles me a little I almost grab my bag again.
Once he calms down, he is smirking a little yet his eyes are still glazed with boredom, making me believe he was already quite the character. "For someone so eloquent, I didn't expect you to say thingy."
I huff a little, and he chuckles again, so I fold my arms and wait for him to finish.
"What's your name little girl?"
That does it.
"Who you calling a little girl, druggie?"
Amusement floods his caramel eyes, finally matching his widening smirk, which only infuriates me even further. "I'm pretty sure you require a wake-up call," I say as I grab my bag, before adding, "Pun intended."
"My name is Sasori Akasuna," he introduces, with a bow and a sweeping of an arm, mock smile and all. "May I have the pleasure of your name, brat?"
My hand clenches on the door's handle, as I regard his slightly bent up face in attempt to look at me and his hand waiting for me to take. I cock my head in the same fashion he did a while ago, thinking the whole situation through, before I make a decision.
Dropping my bag into his outstretched hand, I smile down at him with practiced camaraderie.
"You seem to like degrading nicknames better, so if you'd really like to know –"
By now he had stood straight and a curious look casted upon his face, and I began to think that he didn't have a wider scope of reactions.
"Check the sign-up sheet, Akasuna-sensei."
I gave him my back as I turned towards a low cupboard propped at the end of the wall, lined up with miniature wooden puppets and cups of paintbrushes, crayons, and no doubt much more inside. Looking at all those supplies made me a little excited imagining myself using them to my leisure.
If the president didn't decide to kick me out for provoking him.
Eh, life happens.
Speaking of him, I hear the rustling of paper and turn towards him to see him –
"What in hell is wrong with you!" I storm towards him seated on a desk and snatch my diary away from his grubby hands, as well as my bag before he tries anything else. "That's a breach of privacy, like, what are you on?"
He rolls his eyes, leaning towards me whilst propping his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands in front of him. "Kushina is a pretty unique name," he drawls monotonously, as I narrow my eyes. "Very befitting in that case."
"Soooo, some pretty strong stuff?"
He points towards the chair he formerly kicked away to gain more space for himself, and I found myself ignoring his silent order by pushing it further and propping myself up on the desk opposite to him. And from his expression, he seemed impressed; I raised an eyebrow.
"Should I inform a teacher, or are you going to buy my silence?"
"Neither, little girl," I open my mouth to deliver a scalding rebuttal when he interrupts me. "Welcome to the Art Club, Kushina Uzumaki."
I take a deep breath, before slumping a little, more torn than elated. I send him a look before folding my legs underneath myself on the table, accepting this weirdo.
"Well, what's next?"
Sasori smiles a chilling smile, as if he expected me to ask that, before waiting a moment to respond.
"Since no one else showed up, you've been appointed as my –"
"No no no no NO!" he pulls back and his curious expression takes surface. "I will absolutely not be your lap dog as well in any way or form, nope, thank you, I humbly pass."
"Okay then," he chuckles, and from the slightly blank look afterwards, I believe he isn't one to be amused so much in one day. "How about we get to know each other?" he doesn't wait for me to respond as he asks, "So what does a brat like you do in your free time?"
I bite my tongue a little, but can't help the unimpressed look I make and as I see his amused impression flip back on I assume he's noticed the affect.
"I'm a freshman, we don't have free time."
"Ah," he muses, "forgot what that was like – the caged feeling, the dubious amount of pressure."
"Seems like you remember quite well there."
"Why did you join the Art Club?"
"Ah ah ah!" I wag a finger in his face. "It's my turn to ask."
He leans forward, "I wasn't aware we were taking turns."
"Well you did say get to know each other, so keep up!" I swing my sneaker-clad feet after releasing them and letting them dangle. "How many people signed up for your bullshit?"
"That doesn't seem like something about myself."
"Well look at that, you're right! Are you going to answer me or not?"
Sasori stares at me with an expression I haven't yet seen; one that was coldly analytical, for lack of a better description, before he reached into his pocket and fished out a crumpled piece of paper. He outstretched it towards me, and when I reached for it, he pulled back with an amused smirk.
"I'll give this to you when this is over, little girl," he states, mockly holding it in the air to inspect it.
"Hmph, tease," he perks up as I roll my eyes and mumble that, and then I switch my question. "Nod once if you're a junior."
"Perceptive," he scowls, ignoring my request and calmly folding the paper in and out. "Answer my question."
"Well, to be honest, it was initially an escape – a lot of people recommended the Writing Club, but that seemed a little cliché to me, so this idea was born."
He nodded to himself, and before he could talk, I added, "And when I saw those photos, it kind of made me want to go off and thoughtlessly buy a camera to take some myself."
"You have a good eye."
"So you say."
"It's your turn by the way."
"Did you make those dolls?" he lifted his head to look me in the eye. "It seems like it seeing as your very delicately handling things."
"You have a good eye."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "You already said that."
"Seemed worth repeating."
"Right…"
Sasori leaned back and gave me what looked like his full attention, and so I mimicked his posture as a defensive taking.
"Have you considered this as a permanent choice?" he asks seriously, his hand raising to brush through his hair.
"I'm still here, aren't I?" I didn't feel like giving him a straight answer for the simple satisfaction of tormenting him as much as he attempted to do to me, and it looked like it worked. "What's your pet peeve?"
"I hate waiting."
I laugh, which surprises both him and myself included, but I find that I don't hate it. "That somehow fits your whole character, so noted."
"You have a beautiful laugh," he says lowly, and for someone reason, I was able to withstand the inevitable flushing and just shoot him a pointed look. "What do you hate?" he quickly asks, in attempt to pull out of that slip of tongue, judging by the redness creeping up his neck.
"Attention."
He cocks his head again. "That's interesting."
"It really isn't," I argue while masking a yawn behind my palm. "It's as simple as it sounds."
"Weren't you taught how to act in front of your elders, brat?"
"I was," I quip wryly, now staring at my unpainted nails. "But unfortunately, this is as much as you'll get."
Sasori throws the now balled paper towards me, and I fumble a bit before catching it, before he stands up and hands me my bag propped by where he was seated.
"That's it for today, little girl, I'll hopefully be seeing you tomorrow."
I slung my bag over my shoulder without question, while turning towards his retreating back. "Shouldn't I return this?" I ask about the paper, and he waves dismissively behind his head, causing me to huff once again. "Fine Akasuna-sensei, act petty."
"Please," I could hear his eye roll. "You'd know what that is very well."
"It's to show my steadily dwindling respect for you, duh!"
As soon as he turns around, no doubt to engage in….whatever this was, I'm already turning and waving my hand behind my head dismissively. "Seeya tomorrow, Sasori."
I shut the door behind me just as I catch him say, "I look forward to it, Kushina."
What a bum.
