The Portrait

Disclaimer: Kakashi should say it for me!

Kakashi: Megumi-chan doesn't own Naruto.

Megumi: Kyaaa huggles I love you Oh yeah, one more disclaimer. whispers it to Kakashi

Kakashi: And she doesn't own Shakespeare either.

AN: The author apologizes profusely if the last chapter wasn't interesting. She will try and make up for it with this chapter.

Also, thank you to all my readers for such overwhelming support from the last time. I've never been added to favourite author's lists unless the people were my friends so THANK YOU! I will try my best to write this story well. Also, sorry for the late update, I try to update every few days but things are happening. The next update will either come late or early.

Author's challenge: Can you find the Shakespeare bit in the text? (It's really not that hard.)

Chapter 3

"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…

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Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were walking to their lockers to get their lunches. Suddenly, Sasuke whacked Naruto on the head. Naruto simply waved the hand away in case of another attack.

"Hey, Naruto are you okay? You seem down lately," said Sakura.

"I'm fine… lack of sleep I guess," muttered Naruto. A figure came beside him.

"Hey Naruto, Shizune sensei wants you to see her in the teacher's office," said Tenten, a friend of theirs.

"Thanks Tenten," he replied. "I better go," he said to his friends and walked off.

"Lack of sleep my ass, he overslept and was late for class twice this week," said Sasuke as his blonde friend walked off.

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"Naruto, I want you to tell me the meaning of this," said Shizune sensei. He handed her a paper with an 18 scrawled in red at the top left-hand corner. Thick red lines followed by question marks could be seen on his short answers.

"Oh this!" exclaimed Naruto. A smile – the first one this week – appeared on his foxy face. He sheepishly put his hand on the back of his head. "Yeah, I did study for this chemistry quiz Shizune sensei. Honestly. But that morning, I overslept and got nervous and forgot the answers so I wrote 'ramen' as the answer to the questions I didn't know!"

Shizune looked exasperatedly at the child who was standing before him, proud of the fact that he answered more than half the questions on the quiz with the word 'ramen'.

"Anyways, study and don't oversleep next time and I'm sure you'll at least pass the next quiz."

"Sure thing!" he replied with a smile, Shizune smiled as well. There was an undeniable charm to the boy.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU TRY? YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T!" yelled a sensei nearby.

"I'm sorry," replied a monotone voice.

"YOU DON'T SOUND LIKE IT!"

"Ebisu sensei, I'm sure you can get your point across without yelling at her," said Shizune sensei.

Ebisu sensei resumed his lecture, "Miss Hyuuga, I'm sure that you are aware of the fact that to attain good grades, hard work and effort in your schoolwork is needed. Actually let me rephrase that – you need to DO your schoolwork AND when you DO your schoolwork hand it in ON TIME!!!"

"Now, Ebisu sensei, perhaps you should listen to her side of the story before you scold her too much," suggested Shizune. "Are you having trouble with your homework Hinata? Do you need tutoring or extra help?"

"No."

"Is there a reason why you don't finish your homework then?" asked Shizune gently.

"I just don't have the time," replied Hinata in her emotionless voice again. Naruto saddened at the fact that this Hinata was truly not the same as dream-Hinata. How he truly longed to hear her voice…

"Then maybe you should quit any clubs or activities that might take up too much time," suggested Shizune in a friendly voice.

"I'm not in any of those," was the monotonous reply.

"Is it something at home then?" The question was answered by the shake of her head.

"What do you do in the evenings Hinata?" asked Shizune. She was clearly worried for this student. Unfortunately, there was nothing to assuage her fears as this question was met with silence. "Hinata, if you're in any trouble at home, you can always talk to me or Ebisu sensei, okay?"

Hinata nodded.

"Hinata, I want you to tell me what you do in the even – " began Ebisu sensei again, his voice was almost threatening.

"Hey, closet pervert, she gets it, she'll do her homework. Just let her go already," said Naruto.

"Perhaps that would be a good idea," offered Shizune sensei. "Why don't you get started on your homework now if time is an issue."

Both students left the office before Ebisu could protest any more.

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"Wow, you're really getting to it aren't you?" commented Naruto. He had followed Hinata to the library, who immediately began doing her calculus homework. As Hinata remained silent, Naruto fidgeted in his seat.

"Look, I don't know what's happening but please tell her 'I'm sorry' if she's mad at me. I want to see her again," he said after fifteen agonizing minutes of silence.

Lavender eyes met blue for a brief moment and then returned to calculus homework. Naruto grabbed his stuff and decided to go home. He just wanted to sleep again. To sleep, perchance to dream…

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Naruto felt his eyes beginning to open.

'Please… show her to me… please…' he thought.

"N-naruto?" asked the gentle voice he yearned for.

"Hinata!" Impulsively, he threw his arms around the girl's slender torso. "I'm sorry if something I said made you angry…"

"You d-didn't do anything Naruto," she replied softly, almost in a sad tone.

"Then why didn't I see you for a week!?" he exclaimed, almost angrily. Her eyes avoided his for a moment.

"I-I! You… H-he found out about you."

"He?"

"Who you call the 'visitor'."

"Is he the painter?"

"May- I t-think so…"

"But what can he do?"

"I don't k-know, b-but you can't let h-him know y-you're here."

"Hinata, I'll protect you from him, then you'll be – "

Tears began to form in her eyes. "You d-don't understand… you should just g-go…" Without looking at him, she pushed him out the window once more. She did not dare meet his eyes as they drifted further and further, hers were full of tears…

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Naruto woke up with a start. He was quite awake and yet he felt… dead. His digital clock flashed 4:09 AM with a small "Friday" in one of the corners. He should go to school today but he was not in the mood for it.

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"You seem very eager to get in, waiting at the front for an hour before this place opened…" said the ticket vendor at the art gallery. Naruto took his ticket and went in. He walked straight to where Hinata's portrait would be…

He arrived at the spot and found that no one else was there. 'I'll be the only one to admire Hinata today…' he thought. When he looked up to where the giant portrait was supposed to be, he saw nothing but a blank wall.

"WHERE DID IT GO?" he shouted to no one in particular. Footsteps came closer to where the blonde boy was standing. Naruto turned around instinctively.

"I see someone is alarmed of the disappearance of our lady already," he said quite calmly.

"Who are you?" demanded Naruto, his tone almost rude.

"I'm Yamato, the curator in charge of this painting."

"Where did she go?" he asked, his tone becoming more and more impatient and impolite as he kept speaking. Yamato did not seem to be alarmed.

"She was suddenly taken into conservation last night. She cried again yesterday."

"She cried?" asked Naruto in disbelief, his face contorted in a horrified expression.

"You see, sometimes for some odd reason, water droplets emit from our dear lady's eyes. It used to happen about once every decade. The last time she cried was about a year ago but she broke her pattern and cried yesterday."

"W-why would she…" Naruto's eyes were downcast at the statement.

"No scientist has been able to explain this phenomenon. Some say it's poor preservation of the painting but no other painting cries other than our lady."

"I see…" he muttered and walked off. He might as well go to school if Hinata wasn't there.

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"NARUTO! Where have you been?" asked Sakura. Although the phrase indicated that Naruto was to earn a scolding by his friend, both Sakura and Sasuke seemed to be concerned.

"You missed a pretty awesome soccer game dobe," chided Sasuke. This earned no response from his friend. Frustrated, Sakura walked in front of Naruto.

"Look," she said. "Let's just skip class and have a good talk okay?"

"Sure…" he replied but not all of him was present.

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At a nearby café, after ordering drinks, an odd silence fell upon the three friends.

"So, why'd you miss gym first period dobe? It's the only class you're good at," said Sasuke, finally breaking the silence. This earned no response from Naruto.

"What Sasuke's trying to say is that we're worried about you. It sounds cliché but it's true. You've skipped class for the last two days and you don't skip without a good reason. Naruto… what I'm trying to get at is… are you angry about… me and Sasuke?"

Naruto looked up from his drink to stare incredulously at the couple.

"No."

"Look dobe, our relationship just happened. While you were staring at that picture, we were just bickering. You remember? Sakura said, 'She's pretty isn't she?' and then I said, 'I guess.' And then she went on and asked if she was prettier. I then I just said, 'What if I say yes?' Then one thing led to another and eventually we went out on date. It wasn't complicated or anything and it's nothing to be jealous over. I thought you got over Sakura a long time ago."

"It's not that Sasuke," replied Naruto wearily.

"Then what the hell is it?" asked Sasuke angrily, his hand grabbed Naruto's shirt collar quite forcefully.

"Look, you just don't understand…" He undid Sasuke's grasp on his shirt and walked out of the café.

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Naruto went home again, not quite wanting to go back to school. He locked himself quickly in his room.

"Sasuke and Sakura seem happy together. They deserve one another," he muttered. "But it's unbearable. Where's my special person? Like hell Hinata will do any good in this situation, she's just a damn picture." His anger was unsteadily climbing as he kept talking to himself. He slammed his fist into the nearby wall but he was still not calm.

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A few hours later, Naruto went out for a walk, his emotions still unsettled. He walked by the school, stopping at the side gate to watch the students come out after the end of school bell tolled. A figure came towards him, that certain figure had indigo hair and lavender eyes… On a sudden impulse, Naruto walked in the front of her, blocking her path.

"Excuse me," was her response in her regular emotionless voice. Cerulean eyes filled with sadness and anger.

"DAMMIT!" he yelled. He grabbed the girl's wrist and dragged her away, not quite knowing where he was going.

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They ended up on a small scenic bridge above a brook near the school.

"Stay," he commanded and the girl sat on the bridge looking at him with expressionless eyes. Silence filled the air between them as Naruto searched for words to say. They stood there but as twilight was about to come, the girl finally spoke:

"I need to go soon."

A heavy sigh escaped his lips.

"Look, I don't know what you are to the other Hinata but somehow I know you're connected with her but you're definitely NOT her. Just tell her… tell her that if I don't see her tonight, I'll kill myself. I'm completely serious. Tell her that."

He stared intensely in her eyes, which held a slightly tinge of fear: the only emotion she seemed to be able to express. With that, she walked away, leaving Naruto with a queasy feeling in his stomach.

Will Naruto see dream-Hinata tonight? Will Naruto and his friends make up? Why doesn't Hinata have time to do her homework???