I do not own Naruto but I DO own the all the OCs
Chapter 25: Strawberries and New Friendship
It was around 9:00 p.m. Sasori was just walking to his room after making sure everything was in order. He was tired and still trying to find a way to fix all the tensions around. At the very moment he was feeling sorry he ever suggested a plan, now it was his responsibility. Regardless of his numerous problems, he decided to have Hidan stay in his own room with him instead of with Kakuzu. He decided putting them in the same room would just result in more problems, maybe even violence, and if, by any chance, Kakuzu or Hidan lost their minds, if Hidan was in his room he could just wring Kakuzu's neck--like he'd been wanting to--and save a riveting punishment for Hidan later on. He sighed to himself. He was becoming as sadistic as the both of them put together with all the emotional stress. He sighed once more before opening the door of his room to see Hidan sitting on his futon, staring blankly at the wall.
Sasori felt a slight twinge of anger towards Kakuzu but pushed the thought out of his mind. One at a time.
He walked over to Hidan and knelt beside him. "Hey."
Hidan looked up, seemed slightly startled. He blinked. "Um, hi."
Sasori felt the gloom radiating from him and felt a pang of empathy. He laid his head against Hidan's, wrapped his arms around his shoulders and closed his eyes. He stayed like that for a while and then opened his eyes again. "Hidan."
"Nnn?" Hidan didn't move.
"What did he say to you?"
Hidan didn't answer at first.
"What does it matter?" he said, quietly.
"You won't tell me?" Sasori asked.
"If you think that me telling you is going to resolve any problems you'd better think again."
"No. That wasn't really my thought."
"Huh?"
"It's just that, most of the time I hate when something makes emotional problems for me. If I can get rid of your problems, half my problems will be gone. That seems pretty fair, don't you think?"
"Y'know, it's really nothing."
"It doesn't seem that way."
"You guys do always say I tend to overreact."
Sasori looked at him skeptically.
"Fine," Sasori said, crossing his arms. "You can be that way tonight, since it's so late. But I'll get you to tell me sooner or later."
"Okay." Hidan shrugged and lay on his back. "'Night."
Sasori sighed but flicked off the lights. "Good night, Hidan. Don't let yourself be stubborn tomorrow."
"That's not the right expression."
"It is for you."
Sasori smiled to himself in the dark; Hidan ignored him.
Soon Hidan drifted to sleep. Sasori looked over at him, in the dim moonlight. He wondered about the odd color of his hair and eyes and wondered where it came from. He also wondered how much stress Hidan was under. Probably more than he led most on to think. Sasori decided he, himself, should quit complaining. Regardless, he was exhausted. Even though he didn't need it--considering he was a puppet and all--he decided to go to sleep. He lay back and drifted into a restful haze.
The next morning, Hidan and Kakuzu didn't talk to each other again, and practically ignored each other's presence. Everyone, besides Katamaru, of course, who barely paid any attention to anyone, was apprehensive to speak about it so they mostly lounged around the living room, doing separate activities, while Erena cooked breakfast.
Suddenly Erena cursed.
She came walking into the living room in a haste. "Strawberries."
"What?" Sasori looked at her puzzled.
"I need strawberries. There are some in the storeroom on side of the house. Can somebody hurry and get some? I'm gonna burn the food."
Meiko raised her hand high as if she was in class and called, "Ooh, ooh! Me, me, me!"
Erena smiled cordially. "Okay. Hurry up though."
"Alright!"
Meiko skipped happily out the door into the crisp, early winter air. She shivered a little and realized snow had fallen last night. Everything on the little dirt road and beside it were covered in a blanket of snow and frost. Icicles sparkled from the tree branches.
"It's so pretty," Meiko smiled. "Too bad the pretty flowers are gone. What was I doing? Oh! Strawberries!"
Meiko made her way to the little storeroom attached to the house. She opened the door and looked around. Food was everywhere. Some of it was store-bought so Meiko decided Erena must have gone shopping. Then she spotted the strawberries.
"Strawberries!" she cheered.
She went over and popped one in her mouth.
"They're sweet!" she smiled. "I could eat the whole container…Oh! I'd better get them back to Erena."
She grabbed the container and skipped out of the storeroom door out onto the white lawn. She was humming as she skipped.
"Oh," a voice said. "Those look good."
Meiko looked up to see three young women, around her age, on the snowy path. One had platinum-blonde hair and blue eyes and wore a black, long-sleeve, Gloomy Bear, v-neck shirt with jeans. The other two looked to be related, probably twin sisters, both had black hair and dark eyes, only one had short hair and wore an orange tank top, a jean jacket and a skirt paired with black tights and boots. The other had long hair that reached the small of her back and wore a blue dress with a tan coat paired with white knee high socks with tan boots. The latter was the one who had spoken.
Meiko smiled brightly at them. "They are good!"
The girl with the long black hair walked up and looked at the strawberries.
"Ah," she said. "Imported, hmm?"
She sighed.
"I wish it was spring," she said. "How ironic. I guess my parents knew what they were doing when they named me Haru. I hate the cold."
"Same here," her sister said. "I love the fall and my parents named me Aki. I hate the heat."
Both the sisters laughed and the other girl smiled.
"It is very pretty out here," Meiko remarked. "Why do you wish it was spring, Haru-san?"
"Oh," Haru's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry. That was so rude of me to say. It's just that when I saw the strawberries I thought of the ones that grow beside this house. They'll begin to sprout around January but they won't be ready until around March. Plus the spring is so much warmer. It's so cold now."
"Hmm, well I can't make it warmer but maybe you can ask Erena-chan to let you have some strawberries. She's my friend's maid."
"Cool. Lead the way," Aki smiled.
"Aki!" Haru scolded. "We wouldn't want to intrude."
"It's no problem," Meiko said, kindly.
"Well, okay…if you're sure."
Meanwhile, Erena was getting impatient.
She growled. "The shed is right outside. What is she doing?"
Suddenly, Erena heard the front door open. "I'm back!"
"Thank you," she walked out into the kitchen but then her jaw dropped when she saw the three young woman in the living room. Mostly everyone else was gaping too.
"Um, Meiko," Erena said, trying to understand. "What's going on?"
"Oh! Oh!" Meiko bounced. "I was getting the strawberries and I met these girls. They said they wanted strawberries so I invited them in for breakfast."
Erena gave her a severe look.
Meiko shrank down. "I just thought…it was okay..."
Erena glanced hastily at Sasori who quickly mouthed, "It's okay. She didn't know."
"Uh, okay," Erena said, trying to smile. "Well, this is a surprise."
"I'm sorry if we're causing any trouble," Haru said, apologetically. "We could go."
"No. It's okay. It's just, I need to make more pancakes. And more of everything else. But don't worry about it."
With this Erena left with the strawberries to finish cooking.
Everyone else left in the living room besides Meiko looked inquisitively towards their visitors.
"Hello," Haru smiled cordially. "I'm Haru."
"I'm her twin sister, Aki," Aki waved casually.
"I'm Aiko," the platinum-blonde girl smiled and wiggled her fingers. "Hi."
Everyone, quietly, with unsureness, returned their greetings.
Sasori was glad Meiko found some new friends, but he was upset that he had more interference in the original plan. If these girls saw a witch or found out any more information, who knew what would happen. They'd have to be extra careful during their visit and hope no witch decided to appear now. Hopefully, luck was on their side…like it usually wasn't.
A/N: Thanks, as always, for returning to read. Gloomy Bear, is a popular character in Japan (such as Hello Kitty, only not so happy, as his name suggests). If you're wondering what Erena wanted strawberries for, it was to put on the pancakes. Yummy! X) "Haru" means "spring" and "Aki" means "autumn". "Aiko" is 'love child'. Oh, and, yes, Meiko is that ditzy. LOL! ;)