Reviewers;
DiizGirlJess: You and me both Jess, and when he's nervous, Sakura is the naughty one. Wonder what happens when they're both nervous? ;)
Duh Bomb: Pretty good rhyme scheme, more complex it seems.
7th Demon of Razgriz: Here the final on time. :)
XxAshishxX: of course our blonde male is awesome, so here is, as you say, 'more of this'.
SasukeShouldDie: I was so red when I wrote that classroom scene, just even imagining being in that awkward situation with the girl or guy you have a crush on. I am not an artist, but I imagine a lot of things in my mind, so describing over time is great for me. I appreciate straight-forward art, not the abstract in a sense, but the meaning and then looking at the small figures and actions behind the main painting.
CruxTheLove: well, since it's only for a semester, I kind of have to go past that. You can't expect a relationship to only last four months. No, it takes years to accomplish a true relationship. As for your question, Ino plays a medium role. She is a muse, like Sakura, and being close to Sakura may prove difficult for her and Naruto's friendship as you read when Ino did the nude shoots, Naruto saw Sakura in Ino's figure.
Mundanebeast: Awkward situation.
Czar Joseph: Thank you Joseph.
Hanmac: Read the answer to CruxtheLove for the Ino question you had, I thought about the Sakura-Ino interaction, but decided against it, at least for now, and sakrua thought of the mannequin, of course she sees herself as a bit of one; she is a future model in her own eyes.
Czar Ryno: That's how I came to want to do an art story within the interactions. It calls for me to write more descriptive words and yet allow the reader to visualize the scene before them. And thanks for the comment on my beautiful story. She Will be his masterpiece, but there can be more than one!(Vague for your benefit) Being 17 is nothing, you are the right guy for the type. Girls appreciate that kind of guy.
Logan Locke: Vivid things are in art, and while my other stories had imagery, they were based more on the actions of fighting and buildings and towers. This story bases it off of a whole separate entity. I felt like no one really did these stories and so here I am, doing another of my unique stories, like Sorakage, ne?
I'm glad you saw right into the thoughts of Sakura while she looked at the pictures, wanting to do her own. And the attraction for Ino, they are teenage girls, top rated in school, and therefore, they show their real self to only each other, hence the close bonding to the other. Glad you enjoyed the tango between nervousness, teasing, and blushing that occurred. Still shocked...literally, and that's what I'm trying to go for, quality over quantity this time around, though quantity is still important.
Lestibur: If it was NaruSakuIno, i would have made that the pairing. Maybe on a future story.
AN: 16 hours...that's how long it took for you guys to double my reviews...I can't believe you guys! Not even 24 hours? How can I not post another chapter if you guys keep doing this to me?! You are all so mean! :) Here is another chapter, this is it for the weekend of chapters, next one will be posted on Thursday or Friday. Everyone have a superb week.
Tone and Stroke
Chapter 3: Teasing the Outcast
The bright light of the Sun rose and fell, only to be replaced by the Moon reciprocating the actions of the sun as day and night blended together and passed by. Soon, it had been four days since Sakura's request and that meant that it was Friday. Sakura heard the bell for the end of school from the library, and kept reading her book.
Sakura could have gone home early since it was her study period, but she always found herself spending time increasing her brain capacity with facts of history and science. One could never run out of things to talk about if they had knowledge on various issues, right? The truth was, for today at least, that Sakura was nervous today, and it showed as the librarian told her to stop tapping her pencil against the wooden table repeatedly.
After a good ten minutes after the bell, Sakura packed up her stuff and made her way to her car and headed off to the address that Naruto had given to her. It wasn't too far from school, but it was in the complete opposite direction of Sakura's residence so it was far in a sense of travel time. Sakura found Naruto's house rather easily, but it wasn't a house per say. It was what some could say was an apartment complex.
Sakura parked her car in the shared parking lot and took a minute looking for his number along the bottom row of doors before she realized after a minute that Naruto lived on the second floor of the apartment complex and also that these apartments were like studios, with a lot of space in the center of the room for a lot of various things. Soon, Sakura had taken the stairs to his floor and stood before apartment number seven, and raised her hand to knock on it.
Suddenly, Sakura's nervousness hit her like a train, and her mind felt like she had experienced whiplash. Would Naruto actually paint her? Use her as his muse? Was she dressed properly? Was she showing enough skin for him to use in his paintings? I mean, sure she wore a skirt, but it could be shorter…
Wait a second! These were all compared to Naruto! It wasn't like she would be posing naked for Naruto like her best friend had done. Modeling photos and some swimsuit shots, that's all. Sakura blushed a bit; sometimes what girls wore to the beach was less than the underwear they usually wore. Who the heck had designed that concept in life?!
Sakura, get over yourself! And with that, Sakura's knuckles knocked on the door briefly. Sakura heard a muffled voice and after a minute, the door opened to show Sakura a black shirted Naruto, with messy blonde hair, perhaps showing that he'd just put the shirt on and didn't have the time to redo his hair, and his usual paint smeared cargo pants.
"Hey Sakura."
"Still no –Chan?"
Naruto smirked. "Fine then. When we're alone, I'll add –Chan. Come on in."
Sakura walked forward and graced Naruto's cheek with her hand, causing his eyes to widen in shock. "You just say it, Naruto, when you want to." Sakura moved on into the apartment, blushing and wondering why she was so unconsciously flirting with this boy. She didn't touch guys like that, maybe punch them when they got too close to her, but not caress their cheeks, looking at their eyes and searching their souls for something she didn't even know what!
Anyways, as Sakura walked around the room, she saw a lot of paintings on the walls. Naruto had clearly decided what he wanted to do in life a long time ago it seemed. The first few pictures showed a dark blue haired girl who appeared to be almost blind and once Sakura noticed the swimsuit holding in her bulging breasts, Sakura realized that this was a young Hinata Hyuuga from freshman year before she moved off to boarding school due to family issues.
The paintings progressed like Naruto's life it seemed and Sakura saw many other girls in photos and scenes that were amazingly portrayed and in intricate detail. The amount of paintings were vast but photos of the same girls however were few in number with many two or three and kept that way until Sakura got to the end of them with her best friend looking down at her with the exact smile she had on when she was completely at peace with herself. Sakura knew that Naruto was a great person; Ino never showed that smile but to people she trusted completely, so that meant a lot.
"Would you like some water?" Naruto called out from the island kitchen, and Sakura nodded before finding the white canvas and lights in the center of the room and chose to sit on the stool as she waited. Naruto soon arrived and Sakura smiled as she took a slow sip from her glass.
"Ino wasn't kidding, Naruto. These paintings and photos…they are all amazing. I swear that you must have most of the beauties that have been at Konoha High. You even have some girls older than you!"
"All but one." Naruto smiled as Sakura blushed at the insinuation. "But thank you. I just love to do them; it really calms me. When I'm not painting or focused on a subject, I'm pretty hyper."
The two smiled at each other and their eyes connected for a second, showing the attention that they were both receiving, before each blushed and it got awkward.
"Anyways!" Sakura broke the silence. "Where do you need me?"
"Well," Naruto looked at her closely. "You look great right now, but before we really begin, what do you want in the pictures? Do you want cleavage, perception, a deeper meaning? Something you want to instill in the photos that will separate you from others."
"W-well," Sakura stuttered as her guard dropped a bit and let Naruto see a different side to her. "I'm not really sure. When I think about it, I really need to practice doing these types of things, pushing myself with what I'm comfortable with. I guess I want to start by being neutral but still beautiful." Sakura blushed until Naruto chuckled as he got his equipment ready, checking his paints and brushes, before he looked back up at Sakura.
"No matter what I do, you'll still be beautiful."
Sakura blushed and diverted the statement to avoid another awkward situation. "Can you do it?"
"I can make that work for you." Naruto smirked.
"Thank you."
"So, for these portraits, do you have any scenes in mind?"
"Well, I always loved the sight of water. Do you do beaches and swimsuits?"
"I can work that in." Naruto nodded before scrunching his face a bit. "It will be hard to do the swimsuit though, I'll have to use my imagination if-,"
"I can pose for you in a swimsuit!" Sakura exclaimed before she realized that Naruto already had the power now to ask her to strip down to her underwear and she'd do it. Instead, Naruto was trying to do things without her. He was trying to appease her nervousness by doing things himself. Sakura felt her heart ache for him as she knew that in high school, the higher social class doesn't even speak to him, let alone be around him long enough to know he existed, and so he probably thought she wanted the same thing.
Sakura looked back up to see Naruto blushing and couldn't help herself. "Just don't get a hard on like in art class okay?" Sakura saw Naruto cough a bit and readjust his pants and blushed brightly as she smiled. Kidding, "you can come whenever you want."
Sakura smiled at Naruto remembering the sticky substance on the art door mirror, "I'm sorry Naruto, but you're really fun to just tease."
"I-I know," Naruto looked down and Sakura wanted to rush up and hug him as he looked sad. "But what I would like to know is why are you teasing me? You aren't really someone who talks to me or one of the girls who bullies me."
Sakura couldn't take it anymore and slowly got off the stool and before Naruto knew what was happening, Sakura picked his chin up and stared deep into Naruto's eyes before speaking with all of her confidence. "I heard what you told Ino about me."
The look on Naruto's face was priceless in Sakura's eyes, like Naruto's most kept secret had been found out and he was stunned completely. Sakura caressed his cheek, and he shivered from the attention once more, like an electric spark sizzling across his entire frame. Sakura didn't know why she did it, but it felt…right. "I am flattered by the way…what you said to her…that I'm...I'm a goddess in your eyes…and what you said to me on Monday...calling me beautiful and all."
Sakura backed up and looked embarrassed at what she was saying to her potential photographer and painter, and maybe…maybe a friend? "You know, many guys say what you say directly to me and to others, but they just say that because they want to bone me, to brag to the whole school how I gave myself up to them. I've never given in to any guy saying that...but how You said it first to Ino and then to me, I want to wonder why you say it." Sakura paused to let what she said sink in. "Is it because you actually care for me, or do you just want to take me while I'm vulnerable?" After a second of silence, Sakura saw Naruto still in thought. Well, which one is it?
"Um…both?"
Sakura smiled humorously. "So you do want to fuck a girl like me And have me as a lover you care for?"
"…I don't think that's a fair question."
"Why not?"
"Well, tell me who wouldn't want to be with a goddess if they were single?"
Sakura smiled wider. Naruto seemed to have some wit about him; it seemed like she was seeing deeper into who Naruto was in reality. She had to admit though that she liked finding things out about him. "Fair enough." And with that, Sakura took her position once more on the stool.
Two hours later, Sakura was finally allowed to move from her prone position on the stool. For the entirety of the two hours, Sakura had been in her school wear, her left leg draped over her right foot and her hands in her lap, looking directly at Naruto.
Naruto was apparently a great artist and allowed Sakura to change her face many times, as he told her jokes and events that he had gone to, and where some of his portraits had gotten first place. Sakura for her part described some of the routines that she did with cheerleading. She saw that Naruto was almost completely lost on cheerleading as she was with art, but she appreciated his attention to whatever she said, not caring one bit if she said something stupid.
As Sakura stretched, Naruto put down his black outlined brush and turned it so show Sakura herself completely in black and white. "Wow, Naruto. That's beautiful."
"This is only the outline, Sakura. I'll have your paintings done next week. Just come by next Friday in…um…"
"In my swimsuit, right?" Sakura smiled as Naruto blushed but nodded.
"Do you have any preference on the general portrait?"
"I would ask for conservative, but if i could, I'd want it…sexy."
"You leave it to me, Sakura. I'll make it sexy for you."
Sakura giggled as she grabbed her backpack and made her way to the door. "Thank you Naruto. I can't wait to see them."
So, next time we can see more of the story! Onto the next chapter!