I do not own Naruto but I DO own the all the OCs
Chapter 26: Life and Depression
The girls had stayed around for a few hours, talking about how surprised they were to see someone taking care of the house. They had known the owner as young children and had tried to take care of the house after he'd passed on. They hadn't had the time to come back to it much since they had graduated. Between work, family and friends they hadn't the time except for maybe once a month so they were grateful for their new-found friends. Since they had the following few days off, Haru asked if she could come back to check on the potatoes growing behind the house. She loved gardening and nature. Sasori reluctantly agreed, trying not to arise any suspicion. Regardless of the visitors, Hidan and Kakuzu never talked to one another. Katamaru's pompous manner just caused more tension and some scowling from Kakuzu. Later that night, everyone was tired from all the stress and went to their beds early. Sasori tried to pry some answers out of Hidan but Hidan used being tired as an excuse. He had the same gloomy aura. Sasori decided to let Hidan sleep since he, himself was so tired. He immediately decided to sleep and was unconscious in seconds.
Sasori was sleeping peacefully, when suddenly, he heard a shutting sound. He opened his eyes and sat up. He looked around the room and found Hidan was missing. He got to his feet hastily, scanning the room. Kakuzu flashed in his mind. What did he do now? Just then Sasori heard the sound of running water. Hidan was just in the bathroom. Sasori sat back down, laughing slightly at his absurdity, and waited for Hidan to return.
When Hidan did return, Sasori was startled. Hidan's wine-colored eyes had lost their bright color and were now a dull shade of purple and he seemed to be distant, looking somewhere else far off.
"Hidan?" Sasori got up to meet him.
"Nnn?" Hidan asked dryly.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I guess."
Sasori could feel the same gloomy aura radiating from his body only stronger than the two previous nights. He looked full of despair. He looked saddened.
Sasori stared intensely at him. "There's something wrong."
"I'm okay," Hidan lied again.
Sasori put his arms around him. "It's okay. Don't be sad. I'll fix this, okay?"
Hidan nodded.
Everyone noticed the change in Hidan but Sasori told everyone not to say anything. He added a warning glare for Kakuzu.
Mostly Hidan just stared out the window or into oblivion, the same expression on his face. Sasori knew there was something wrong and he had to fix it. He had never seen Hidan like this.
Later that day, sometime after lunch, Haru, Aki and Aiko came back, as discussed the previous evening. Haru contentedly tended to the potato plants behind the house while Aki and Aiko chatted with those inside who were willing to talk. Sasori and Erena closely watched everyone to make sure no one slipped. Taemi made sure Kakuzu was in line. Hidan barely spoke at all. When he did he seemed preoccupied and there was a bleak tone to his voice.
Sasori watched him especially close. Of course, their female guests noticed Hidan and Sasori's odd behavior, and asked about Hidan before they left. Sasori simply said Hidan was tired; that he had insomnia. The three girls bought it completely and Haru suggested he drink chamomile tea. With this they left, and the house was basically quiet. The same routine continued for a few days, the girls showing up almost daily and Hidan getting more depressed by the day, his eyes becoming a dim, gloomy lavender. He didn't even talk anymore.
"I'm sorry if we're a burden to you," Haru apologized one afternoon, possibly sensing the stress in Sasori's voice, despite the fact he tried to stay polite and smiling, or Hidan's increasing gloom.
"Don't worry," Sasori reassured her. "It's fine."
"Well, you won't be seeing us anymore, sadly," Aiko said, in her sweet voice. "Work is getting too hectic for us to return much anymore. You probably won't see us for at least a week."
"You can always come back you know," Sasori reassured her. "We probably will be leaving soon too. We have only a small amount of vacation days to use ourselves."
"Ah. Life is hard, isn't it."
"Truly."
They had no idea.
Later that night Sasori felt like he had a headache, though it was impossible for a puppet. Nothing was going according to plan. No witches, three girls who kept showing up, and then there was the entire Kakuzu-Hidan-Katamaru problem. He walked angrily to his room. Hidan had already gone to bed. If only things could be easier. Sasori plopped down on his futon and sighed loudly. He heard a stirring from Hidan's futon.
Sasori looked over towards the futon. "Hidan? Are you still awake?"
Hidan simply moved the covers over his face.
Sasori smirked. "If you're are awake, which is basically obvious, would you like to talk? Maybe about what's bothering you?"
Hidan was silent.
"Hidan. You don't have to be so stubborn. You're basically just hurting yourself. Well, wait. That may not be totally true since all this emotional stress can't be good for your baby so…why don't you just talk about it."
Hidan turned away from Sasori, not saying a word.
Sasori clenched his fist. "You don't have to be disagreeable, y'know. Ugh. You are driving me crazy!"
Hidan tensed.
Sasori was, again, flooded with guilt.
"I'm sorry," Sasori said and then sighed quietly. "I need a vacation."
He cast a smile in Hidan's direction, finding what he had said funny, but Hidan was in the same position: on his side, facing away from Sasori.
Sasori went over to him and pulled the covers off his face. "Surely you must be hot under there…You really don't want to talk about it."
Sasori put his hand lightly on Hidan's cheek; Hidan pushed it away, quickly.
"C'mon, Hidan," Sasori said, kindly. "You can't--"
He stopped abruptly, noticing moisture on his hand. He looked at his hand and then his eyes wandered back to Hidan's face. Using the moonlight to his aid, he saw traces of moisture, from his eyes.
Sasori blinked in surprised, but the he said in an accusing tone, "Hidan. How long have you been crying?"
Hidan shook his head in denial but the tears seemed to betray his intentions.
"Hidan," Sasori exhaled hard. "What are you not telling me about? What's going on? Please tell me. It's...scary to see you this way."
Suddenly, a knock interrupted him.
"Hold on," he said, as he walked towards the door.
He was surprised to see Fuyumi at the door with a worried face.
"What wrong?" he asked, shutting the door behind him.
"It may be nothing, really," Fuyumi said, kindly. "It's just, I touched Hidan-kun today--you know how I do palm readings and deal with the paranormal--well, I felt an extreme amount of dark energy emitting from him."
"Oh? Do you think it means something?"
"I don't know. Did he come in contact with anything of evil magical qualities? Maybe even a black cat."
Sasori looked at her skeptically. "A black cat?"
"Seriously, Sasori-kun."
"Okay, alright…not that I know of."
"Well, we should keep a close eye on--"
Suddenly, a weak, strangled cry and the sound of breaking glass came from the bedroom.
Sasori whipped around and threw open the door. Both Fuyumi and Sasori were appalled and surprised to see what, and who, they saw.
A/N: Cliffhanger. ;P Thanks for reading everyone. :) As you can tell, things are going really wrong with everyone. Keep reading to find out how it works out. v(^.^)