The Portrait

Disclaimer: Who should do it this chapter? Hm…

Gai: I'LL DO IT FOR THE SPIRIT OF YOUTH! LEE, JOIN ME IN THIS YOUTHFUL ANNOUNCEMENT!

Lee: Alright Gai sensei!

Gai: Let's warm up our vocal chords first with exercises!

Lee: YOSH!

Gai and Lee: AAA EEE OOO UUU III

Megumi: sigh

Kakashi: I'll do it then. Megumi chan doesn't own Naruto.

Megumi: Thank you Kakashi kun -hugs-

AN: Thank you again for the support from the last two chapters. I apologize if this chapter took a bit longer to come out; it was a difficult chapter not to mention that my schedule is a bit hectic at the moment. I'll try and update as soon as I can. But I hope you enjoy the story!

Chapter 5

When the end of the day came, Naruto awoke from his slumber by the toll of the last bell. While Naruto was packing up his bag, he was still quite drowsy; he did not notice that the girl behind him was still there, staring at him intently.

"You should stay away from her," she said. This made Naruto fully awake instantaneously.

"You should stay away from her," she repeated, as she looked him straight in the eye. With that repetition she left, leaving Naruto frozen in place. He was shocked, in that brief moment when their eyes met, the lavender eyes held sadness. It was the same sadness he saw in dream-Hinata's eyes whenever he jumped out the window…

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"She can't tell me what to do," muttered Naruto angrily as he walked home from school.

Naruto went home and tried to do his homework. He was in such a foul mood that he decided to stop and play a video game. He couldn't seem to concentrate on that either. He tried to clean his room but got annoyed after a few minutes. Nothing he did seemed to calm him down; he just wanted to sleep. His digital clock showed him that it was 8:10 in the evening. He sat on his bed but heard sounds downstairs. He went down to see what they were.

"Hey Naruto! How were the weeks without me? It was a long business trip this time. You seemed to have survived," greeted Iruka, his foster father.

"I lived," he replied as he took Iruka's bags up to his room.

"Then how 'bout a good meal today? I'll treat you to ramen!" said Iruka enthusiastically.

"Not today," said Naruto, he went up to stairs to his room again.

"Something's not right," muttered Iruka. "He's never refused a treat for ramen before…"

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Naruto awoke to see Hinata's delicate lavender eyes looking intently at him.

"Hinata," he said, his voice full or relief. He held her tightly for a moment.

"You seem upset… did anything bad happen today?" she asked.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak but the feeling of impropriety of telling dream-Hinata about real-Hinata struck him again.

"No, nothing much…" he muttered.

"That's good," replied Hinata, stroking his hair.

"Hey Hinata…"

"Yes?"

"You still haven't told me about your story about Sai and the portrait."

A heavy silence struck the two.

"Well… it's…" she began.

"Please tell me Hinata," he begged. With a worried look in her eyes, she opened her mouth and let her melodious voice tell her story.

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As you know, I was born into one of the most prestigious families of Konoha: the Hyuugas. I was firstborn of two sisters and it was I who was supposed to inherit the family business with whomever my husband was to be. Unfortunately, because of my shyness, it was Hanabi, my younger sister who got all the rich and powerful suitors while I caught the eye of more obscure characters. While Hanabi enjoyed the company of society and their parties and dinners, I preferred walking in the city or going to the fields to study the herbs and plants. It was during one of these times that I met Sai.

Although I hear very much that Sai was a stalker of sorts, he didn't stalk people for no reason. He should be considered one of the most talented painters in history as he truly did capture people's personalities. The way he did that was to observe their daily lives and try to piece together a composition that reflected the person on the canvas. As a result, Sai followed his clients in an almost stalkerish manner to find their 'true colours' as we might say. At times though, if someone caught his interest, he would leave his client to explore whoever it was that caught his eye. I was one such person.

I was on the edge of the Hyuuga lands, studying the flowers and plants when in the corner of my eye, I saw a figure cut across the field before me. Not long after, another figure cut across the same path. The second figure seemed to notice my presence as I noticed his. It was in that moment that Sai and I met. The first figure that went by was the wife of a rich merchant. The merchant commissioned the painting from Sai without his wife knowing. Sai was renowned to be a painter that could capture likeness with only one look at the person. So there he was, following the merchant's wife who just happened to be sneaking to his lover's abode through the Hyuuga lands. He stopped when he saw me and gave me a bow, after that he was gone. For the next month, this would happen every time I was in the field. I would spot him and he would stop and bow. After a month of formal bowing, Sai tentatively talked to me.

"Good afternoon my fair lady," were his first words to me.

"Good afternoon," I replied.

He smiled an awkward smile and continued. "I am Sai, a painter you may have heard of. I am also called 'Master stalker painter' and at times, I am referred to as 'creep'."

I laughed at that statement. He was an odd person but I eventually became good friends with the painter. Many of our meetings consisted of sitting side by side without a word. I would sketch and study my plants while he drew whatever suited his fancy. At times we would talk – about our families or our lack thereof (physically and emotionally), of our dreams… Sai was the brother I never had in my life as a Hyuuga and I was the mother or sister that Sai never had as he was adopted by the rich but cold merchant Danzo after seeing his talent. We were kindred spirits, drawn to each other out of loneliness. Thus was our companionship, silent yet it existed within that silence, there was affection even if we were raised without any… Suddenly, disaster struck.

First of all, Father discovered our friendship. He was suspicious of Sai and of me. Already disgraced in his eyes since all my suitors were inappropriate for the noble family of Hyuuga, he was even more disgusted at this predicament. Although Sai was an adopted child of Danzo, he became respected in most of Konoha's elite society when his painting talents were unleashed into the world. Unfortunately for me, Father disliked Danzo and never had any respect for the famous painter. Even if by some possibility we were in love, Father would have never approved of our relationship; but even as our relationship was nothing but friendship, he condemned it anyways. Sadly, this was not the whole extent of our problems. Racking coughs shook my body constantly and it was then discovered that I had consumption. Being the elite family as we were, having a commoner's disease such as tuberculosis was unheard of. Immediately and illogically, Father suspected that I caught the disease from my involvement with Sai. My honour was in question and I was ostracized from the family at my most dire moment. I was locked in my room and hidden away from the prying eyes of society.

Luckily for me, I was saved from my prison by Sai. He managed to sneak me out of my room and take me to one of Danzo's private houses in the country. There, I rested, knowing my death was in sight but Sai was there, always my beloved brother. It was then that rumours began to spread of us. Some said that the two of us eloped; others claimed that Sai kidnapped me out of crazed infatuation – this was the rumour that was encouraged by my family. Nonetheless, both of us were ruined and unable to return to society the way we were before. I didn't quite mind this as didn't really want to go back to the cold environment that was once my life. Sai on the other hand, took my exile a bit harder. He blamed himself for all of it; he became reclusive and it was then when he started painting my portrait. It was his own way of asking for forgiveness when there was nothing to apologize for. Even so, I let him paint in peace. I watched him in silence, although the silence was continually broken by my racking and worsening coughs. I never saw the painting in its completed state. I died seeing the painting in its final stages but during my final moments, I wished dearly that I could watch over Sai until he finished my portrait…

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"That is why, I believe that I was taken into the portrait. Why I can't escape from this world is unknown to me," finished Hinata.

"You don't need to know why you can't escape Hinata, I'll do anything I can to help you escape. Then you can come and see what Konoha is like now and you'll meet Sakura and Sasuke and you can eat really good ramen at Ichiraku's!" he exclaimed. Hinata smiled gently in response but her eyes were focused elsewhere.

"It would be wise if you go now," she said, the usual melody in her voice was gone.

"But can't I stay a bit longer? The painter or footsteps guy hasn't come yet!" said Naruto with a pout. Hinata gave him a pleading look, he understood. With a wave, he jumped out of the window…

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Oddly enough, he didn't wake as he usually did after jumping out the window. Naruto was consciously aware that he was in his own world and yet his eyes would not open. Somehow, he could see his surroundings and hear Iruka shuffling in his sleep in the next room. He felt his comforter covering him but the comforter felt oddly heavy. He felt trapped in his body. Terrified, Naruto tried moving, after half an hour of struggling, Naruto moved and broke free that bizarre state of consciousness. Cold sweat came down his temples. It was going to be a long day.

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Naruto's day was certainly a long one as he went through it in a daze. Anything anyone said to him seemed to float off into space as he concentrated only on two things. The terrifying experience he had this morning and Hinata. Over the course of several weeks that he met Hinata, he wanted more than ever to protect her from the one whose footsteps cut their meetings short. He wanted to show her everything there was in his world. His desire to see her was a craving he couldn't stop – nor did he want it to stop. That day, Naruto also noticed that the Hinata in his world could be seen looking at him but he ignore her stares after a while. That Hinata didn't matter to him anymore. It felt as if nothing else did. He was determined to get Hinata out of the painting no matter what.

After history class, Naruto headed for the door. He didn't even fall asleep this class as he was thinking of a plan to get Hinata out somehow. He was suddenly stopped by a hand grabbing his wrist.

"Does the threat still stand?" inquired a voice full of fear. Lavender eyes were pleading for an answer.

"Threat?" asked Naruto, clearly puzzled.

"Will you still kill yourself if you can't see her?" She was breathless and clearly upset. Her question was voiced in nearly a terrified whisper.

"Of course," he breathed. She let go of his wrist and let him walk away, her eyes were full of tears.

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Naruto went to bed early that night, eagerly awaiting another night in the tower. He opened his eyes but realized something was odd. His head lay against a cold, hard surface when usually he woke up on Hinata's lap. He looked up and saw the window in which he jumped out but Hinata wasn't there. Instead, he heard footsteps coming towards him.

A voice came out from the darkness. It's odd mocking and yet weak voice rang throughout the tower.

"Welcome."

Who is making those footsteps and what is his purpose? How will Naruto get Hinata out of the portrait? When will Naruto eat ramen again???