The Portrait

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. huggles Kakashi Damn, I don't own him either. TT

AN: Sorry if the characters are a bit OOC. Also, many thanks for those who have read and reviewed. All of those reviews and favourites made me so happy!

Chapter 2

"'Kay, good morning class," began Asuma sensei. "Today we have a new student joining us."

Naruto looked up.

"Please welcome – "

"HINATA!" yelled Naruto. Surprise filled his cerulean eyes and his finger instinctively pointing at the new student.

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"Do I know you?" she asked. She looked as beautiful as she was last night. Her white sweater accentuated her creamy skin while her light pink skirt, which ended slightly above her knees showed the delicately sculpted legs that were hidden in the gown she wore in his dream. Naruto felt himself almost blush at the sight of her but her voice made him go into shock. The voice from this Hinata was flat and devoid of any emotion; it was so unlike the voice from Hinata in his dream. He looked her in the eyes and saw no emotion reflected inside.

"No… um… you were in my dreams last night," Naruto replied.

"HAHAHAHAHA! Already using pick-up lines Naruto?" howled one of his classmates.

"No, I – " began Naruto but he was cut off.

"Are you stalking me or something?" asked Hinata. Her voice held one emotion: fear. Her lavendar eyes that were blank a minute ago held the same fear that carried into her voice.

"N-No, I swear, I woul – "

"Now, now miss Hyuuga. You just moved here so I'm sure Naruto or anyone else here could have the chance to stalk you. I also don't think that any of the boys here would do such a cowardly thing: I don't teach cowardly students. Besides, you're talking about Naruto here, he doesn't have the brains or the stealth to stalk anyone!" reassured Asuma sensei. The whole class, including Naruto who was indignant at first, joined in. Hinata returned to her neutral state.

"Now that that's settled, I hope you don't mind taking a seat behind Naruto over there and then we can start class."

Naruto took his nap until the bell rang loudly for lunch. Naruto turned around to speak to the girl behind him but she was gone.

"Oh well…" he muttered.

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"I can't wait to see that movie on Saturday," said Sakura to the stoic boy beside her that was her boyfriend.

"It's just a movie…" he replied, his tone of voice was bored but his lips formed a small smirk-like grin.

"It's our first date… and it's Saturday!" squealed Sakura.

"I see…" said a new voice behind them. This made the couple jump slightly.

"Naruto, don't do that again!" scolded Sakura.

"But it was informative!" said Naruto. If it were anyone else, the sentence could've been taken as sarcastic but in Naruto's tone, it sounded almost childish. "Now I know why the two of you won't watch the same movie with me on Friday…" His voice trailed off in a slightly hurt tone.

"Naruto…" Sakura started.

"No, I understand. In fact, I'll give you private time right now!" The speech did not seem angry; instead, Naruto flashed his characteristic grin and set off into the cafeteria.

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"It seemed cool when I said that but now where am I going to sit?" asked Naruto to himself. 'Not to mention that I can't hear the story of how they got together now,' he thought. He scanned the room for an empty table but instead, his eyes fell on a table with a lone Hinata sitting on it.

"Hey," he greeted. "Can I sit here?"

Without looking at him, she nodded in reply.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto by the way!" He was trying to make some conversation.

"Hinata." Her voice reverted back to the monotone, emotionless state. Her eyes, still lifeless, continued to stare at her school-bought lunch.

"Hey, that looks pretty decent for cafeteria food!" he exclaimed. "But nothing beats ramen!" Naruto took out his cup ramen noodles and a thermos of hot water.

Twenty minutes later, their meals were finished and an awkward silence fell upon the two.

"So… are you getting along ok here?" asked Naruto.

"Yes."

"Um… hey, what classes are you taking? We can compare schedules!"

Hinata handed her printed schedule to Naruto, her eyes still lingered on her tray that had no food left.

"We have art class together today! Too bad you missed the field trip to the art gallery, there was this really gorgeous portrait…"

At the word "portrait", Hinata blanched and quickly snatched her schedule back.

"I'm going now," she said and left.

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Naruto decided it wise to avoid Hinata for the rest of the day. In fact, there seemed to be no point in speaking to her as she was nothing like the Hinata in his dream. As he eagerly lay his head on his pillow at night, he wondered if he would see that Hinata again tonight.

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"You're b-back," a melodious voice said merrily. Naruto opened his eyes to see Hinata's head by the foreign window he saw last night. His head was once again on her lap while she looked at him intently, her eyes full of warmth. Naruto smiled, he hadn't been this happy all day.

"Hinata," he whispered.

"Y-yes?" Her voice was not devoid of emotion and seemed to probe into the deepest caves of Naruto's heart and mind, begging him to tell her his worries and fears. If there were any doubt about this, it would promptly be cast away with her asking, "Is there s-something troubling you?"

"Well, there's this – " Naruto was about to talk about the emotionless Hinata in his world but an odd feeling of impropriety settled upon him. He stopped and started again. "Well, you see, my two best friends got together. I know I should be happy for them but…"

"But?" she questioned gently. Her hand shyly began to stroke his blond hair; his head still remained on her lap. Both of them blushed at the contact.

"It might just ruin our friendship. I mean, how am I supposed to know whether or not they want private time? I'm not a psychic or, or…"

"I-If they were truly your friends, they w-wouldn't let anything ruin your friendship. B-besides, they aren't g-going to start going on d-dates in front of you a-all of a s-sudden, r-right?"

"Yeah, I guess…"

"I-is that all t-that's worrying you?"

"Well, you do have this stutter…" he began, causing her face to flame up.

"It's a h-habit! B-But I was asking y-you if anything else about t-this relationship was t-troubling you."

"Well… I had a crush on Sakura a long time ago. But I don't like her anymore! You see, she always liked Sasuke from the beginning but back then Sasuke just ignored her. After awhile, it seemed as if Sasuke liked her back and I knew that I didn't have a chance. It's not really the fact that they're together that bothers me…"

"It's the idea of b-being lonely?" she suggested.

"Maybe…" Cerulean eyes broke contact with lavender eyes for a silent moment. "Anyways, enough about me, who was the visitor last time?"

"V-visitor?"

"We heard footsteps and you pushed me out that window."

"I'll t-tell you another day," she said in a hushed voice. The footsteps once more resounded in the room, getting louder as every second ticked by. "Go," she said, her eyes filled with the sadness that was seen in her portrait. From a sudden impulse, Naruto kissed her on the forehead and jumped out the window for the second time.

The next day, Naruto had a dreamless sleep. That day then became a week without dream-Hinata…

Where did dream-Hinata go? Will Naruto find out how Sakura and Sasuke got together? And more importantly, has he passed his chemistry quiz???

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AN: Wahhh… I'm sorry if this chapter was a bit boring. I might post this and the third chapter at the same time but please review both chapters if you can!