Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Asylum ❯ ARC3: Day35 ( Chapter 11 )

ARC 3: Day 35

 

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and Characters.

Note: Unbeta-ed. Spotting Typo's is appreciated, as always!

 

It was the most typical morning again. Group therapy. I was seated between a very silent Gaara and a very agitated Sasuke. But because now I was used to their behavior, I found myself ignore the tics and movements (or in Gaara's case, the lack thereof) easily.

 

We were almost complete. Currently empty were two chairs on the other side of the circle, and the doctor's chair. One of those chairs was Lee's..

 

“Sasuke, why is Doctor late?” I asked the agitated teen in an attempt to start a conversation for the time being.

 

“Hn. Kakashi was staring in the mirror again.” was his answer. And as always, his sense of logic completely failed me.

 

“Sasuke.” I pressed on, but that very moment the door opened and both Doctor and the droopy masked guy came in.

 

After a quick apologize for being late (Doc mentioned finding Kakashi in a bathroom, which made me look at Sasuke in wonder) we could begin.

 

“As I already told you, Rock Lee is no longer among us: he went home about three weeks ago. This means we have an empty space in our group..” Doc paused for a moment, “Haku, you may come in now.” was said in a somewhat louder voice, and the door to the hallways opened immediately.

 

In stepped a teen around my age, with long dark hair, and a sweet and smiling face. I found it difficult to tell whether or not this was a boy, but seeing the absence of certain feminine assets, I felt safe to assume this was a boy. I think that spending a lot of group sessions together with Un-rapist made me more aware of which gender people belonged to.

 

“Haku, you can sit down on the empty chair. Don't be afraid, boy. Last time I checked, there was no-one who bites.” Docs joke lightened the atmosphere considerably, and the boy took place. His shoulders were still a bit tensed, but I think that was because the entire group was staring at him.

 

“As you can all see, we again have 15 persons in the group. This means we will not be having anyone new until someone of you will go home.” Everyone nodded, and I groaned softly. But then Sasuke whispered to me that everything would be okay, and that there would soon be 14 people again, because he was sure that Deidara would be sent to prison because he was a terrorist.

 

.. It was his way of calming me down, because I liked numbers like 7 and 7 plus 7.

 

“Now, Haku, would you be so kind to introduce yourself?”

 

“Of course,” The boy replied in a warm voice, “My name is Haku and I'm 15 years old. I lived in Japan for most of my life. Ehh.. I have a pet rabbit, which I couldn't take with me. I rather disliked that. Oh, and I hope we all can become friends.”

 

The boy smiled very friendly, and even waved back shyly when Gai made an exuberant jump and waved really long and with wide arms at the boy. I didn't care about it though: I looked to my right, silently demanding Gaara to tell me whether or not our group would play their `Guessing Game' again.

 

Of course Gaara didn't react to my silent question.

 

Figures.

 

I should have known this was a Bad Day, when I had to help Gaara to tie his shoes this morning, because he was running late again.

 

“You, you, you, you.. You look so nice and shiny.” Naruto suddenly said. I tore my attention away from my current to my former roommate. Was this the cue to begin guessing what Haku-boy had? Because if it was, then this was the moment I could prove my group I had actually changed, by betting for a disorder as well. Now if only someone would start blurting out a disorder..

 

“He must be like us!” Ino suddenly piped up, right before hell broke down. And though I wanted to open my mouth to place a bet as well, it did not quite work. Perhaps this game was more difficult than I thought it would be..

 

Ugh.

 

“I bet he's just playing all nice and shiny! Anti-social: just wait a few seconds and before you know he'll be all `fuck this' and `shit that', and `I only care for myself, and screw the world'!”

 

“He's not like Hidan! No, I bet he's schizo!”

 

“Rape.”

 

“I bet he's hiding because he's a drag-queen, un!”

 

“Comes from Miss Un himself! I say he's a borderline patient.”

 

“No, no, no, no, no.. Asperger syndrome!”

 

“Cuts.”

 

“No, no, no! He must have OCD!”

 

“Gai, not everyone here has OCD.”

 

“Then what do you, my Eternal Rival, think he has?”

 

“I'll say.. Bipolar.”

 

Soon I noticed almost everyone had placed his or her bet. Sasuke went for the classic `crack', and even Gaara had already spoken (`Like.. Lee').

 

And before I knew, Sakura had placed a bet as well (`Hallucinations') and I was the only one left who hadn't said anything yet.

 

I was aware 29 eyes (29 because I will not count Mr. Un's left eye as an eye as well, simply because I still don't know what's behind his bang) were directed at me instead of the new kid. I stared hard to the floor, knowing I had to speak as well. After all, Jiraiya would probably only continue after I had spoken.

 

The only problem was that I didn't know what to say! Haku didn't quite looked like he was a druggie, nor and alcoholic. He probably had schizophrenia or OCD..

 

But unfortunately, the `Guessing Game' had one or two rules as well, even though they were unspoken. One of those rules was that I was forbidden to choose a disorder someone else had already chosen.

 

I had to pick something though!

 

Sasuke was very clear that I needed to play the `guessing game' in order to be accepted. And to make things more difficult: if I didn't pick some rather original disorder, I would probably be laughed at for days.

 

But what was the disorder the new boy could be suffering from? He looked young, innocent, happy, a little bit curious, and.. More like a female than a male actually.

 

So what could be his problem? He sounded quite normal when he introduced himself.

 

The only thing I couldn't -and still can't- place if why the hell he told us he had a pet rabbit. It reminded me of an article in the Cosmo Girl I had snatched from Ino a few days ago. There was a huge article about some teenage drama: a girl was locked up in some dingy basement for 8 years, while her only company was her brutal and ugly captor and a white rabbit.

 

When she had gotten free, she said she didn't want to speak of her `master', as she kept on calling her captor. And if my deductions were right, she was probably suffering from this so-called ehh.. What was the name again?

 

Ah, yes.

 

“Stockholm Syndrome.” I said, before mentally hitting myself.

 

Did I just say that out loud?

 

Did I just place a bet for `Stockholm Syndrome'? Fuck, I did. Shit. Now I would be laughed at for sure. I mean, no one here has a Stockholm syndrome!

 

“Stockholm syndrome, hmmm? That's a rather interesting choice, Neji. Care to tell us why you picked that one?” Jiraiya suddenly asked me.

 

I took a sneak peek at the New Kid, who didn't seem offended: he was actually looking rather curiously at everyone, smiling like no tomorrow.

 

“I.. Eh..” I felt my face going red in no time from embarrassment.

 

“The rabbit.” I heard myself blurt out. Of course Naruto immediately started laughing flat out at me after I had realised what I just said. Others were merely giving me a `Crazy-Neji-is-going-even-crazier'-stares. I gulped, before trying to explain myself, “Haku.. Haku said he had a rabbit.”

 

“And I have a bunch of dogs. Does it matter?” came the reply with the usual bored, eerie and droopy voice from Kakashi.

 

“It reminded me of some article!” I countered back, but before I tried to explain myself even more, it was Shikamaru who saved me by suddenly pointing his index finger to Haku.

 

“You have been held captive for 8 years in a basement.”

 

Eh?

 

Wasn't that a girl?!

 

“Shikamaru, how nice of you to join us. Usually you leave sessions like these to Ino,” Jiraiya scribbled something down, before he looked up to Haku, and continued talking, “Haku, your new group likes to play their so-called `guessing game'. They don't mean any harm whatsoever: in fact, in nine out of ten times it even lightens the mood, and gets new people to talk about themselves.”

 

Haku smiled in response.

 

“I was surprised you people actually play games like this.. But I'm not angry. It was rather interesting to listen to. I really hope we can become friends.” He smiled again.

 

“That's good,” Again, Jiraiya scribbled down something, before continuing to talk, “Now, would you like to tell everyone what happened to you, or would you rather not talk about it?”

 

“Oh, I'm not ashamed in the least about what happened!” Smile, Smile. He just kept on smiling, “That boy (Haku pointed a finger to Shikamaru) is almost right: I have lived in a basement in the mountains for 8 years.”

 

This was the moment where most of group gasped, while some even whispered a hushed `no way!'.

 

“But there has been a slight miscommunication in the media though.” Haku continued, while I felt myself nodding in response. Shikamaru was nodding as well, though he spoke up too.

 

“The article stated you were a girl.” I had the same thing in my mind, but strangely Haku had not.

 

“Eh, really?.. But that's okay: People usually think I'm a girl, unless I tell them.”

 

“Then why did you say there was a miscommunication?” I countered back. If Haku didn't know the media portrayed him as a girl, then what did he think went wrong?

 

“Eh, it's about the whole `kidnap'-part. You see, Zabuza-san never kidnapped me!”

 

..Eh?

 

“You see, I just happened to live in a basement together with him for 8 years, but that's because my parents hated me! Zabuza-san loved me: he needed me. And I went on my own free will.”

 

Silence.

 

“As you can hear, Haku holds this man very dear to his heart, and he is very unhappy that he could not stay in his basement. You could name it `Stockholm Syndrome', but that is such an ugly word.” Jiraiya finally explained.

 

More silence.

 

“Fuuuuck, OCD-kid was right.”

 

It was rather unique to hear Mr. Un's roommate say more than `art lasts for-ever' and such shit. And I must say it completely lightened the atmosphere.

 

“Damn! But I was close with my `drag-queen', un!”

 

“But, but, but, but, but... what's a Stockholm syndrome?!”

 

“Naruto, don't ask stupid questions!”

 

“Sakura-chan!!!” Naruto wailed, but did shut up immediately.

 

“Boys and girls, calm down now. Yes, you too, Kiba.” Jiraiya decided to kick in, and poked the hyperactive boy next to him on his head in a somewhat playful gesture, which made Kiba stop bouncing on his chair.

 

“Everyone. Now Haku has introduced himself, we shall introduce ourselves, one by one, going clockwise. Neji, you won the game, so you may begin.”

 

And as everyone turned their faces to my direction, while most of them looked expectantly at what I was going to say, I felt like I had finally been accepted into the group. Somewhat.

 

So I showed everyone one of my real smiles, before I started the introduction-round.

 

“Hi, I'm Hyuuga Neji, but everyone calls me the `OCD-kid'. I might come across as a huge prick, but that's just who I am. I like weird things like the number 7, and Lee, but I also dislike things, like the color orange..”

 

 

 

That afternoon, I was in a Good Mood. It was the result of winning the guessing game, and I really felt like I was now officially part of the group.

 

And apparently, when I was in a Good Mood, I was really nice to other people.

 

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.. Good afternoon, Neji!”

 

“Good afternoon, Naruto.” I replied with a lot of politeness, and even smiled when Naruto sat down at the table a few feet away from me. He had never been one who liked being in close presence of other people.

 

“Don't be such a suck-up. The idiot won't like you more if you did.” Of course others weren't as nice as I was today.

 

“Shut up, Sasuke. And Naruto isn't an idiot.” I growled at the teen who was sitting next to me on the dusty old couch, but Sasuke wasn't impressed.

 

“You're wrong, Neji. Naruto is an idiot.”

 

“Then prove he's stupid!” I hissed back.

 

“Hn.” And surprised as I was, Sasuke actually stood up and made his way over to Naruto, who was sitting at the table drawing something.

 

“Dobe, let's play a game.” Came the very unusual line from Sasuke. It even shut Naruto up for a moment.

 

“Well, well, well, well, well, well.. Yes! What kind of game, Sasuke?”

 

“I'm going to show you something and you have to answer my questions.”

 

“Sounds dumb.”

 

“Wanna play, dobe?”

 

“Ehh.. Okay. But not longer than 2 minutes, because I need to finish my drawing. I said to Jiraiya I would make him a drawing, so I made a promise. And I can't break a promise.”

 

“It won't take long, dobe. Now watch closely.” Suddenly, Sasuke was holding a box in his hand.

 

“What do you think is inside, dobe?”

 

“Smarties! Because it's a Smarties box, Sasuke! Look at the illustration of the Smarties on the box.”

 

Sasuke simply opened the box, only to reveal..

 

“Eh, those are candles! Sasuke, there are candles in the Smarties' box. That's not right!” Naruto was right: strangely enough, Sasuke's Smarties box contained candles.

 

“That's correct, Naruto. Now I'll them back in the box.” And Sasuke put the candles back in the Smarties' box.

 

“If Sakura would walk into this room right now, and I asked her what would be inside the Smarties box, what do you think she would say?” Seeing the fact Sasuke was almost looking like he was pleased, I guess this was the moment he was waiting for.

 

“Candles! Because there are candles inside the Smarties' box!”

 

...

 

Insert a rather triumphed smirk from Sasuke in my direction.

 

I looked very sour, and ignored both Naruto and Sasuke for the rest of my spare time.

 

Fuckers.

 

Must have been a stupid trick.

 

Because Naruto wasn't-.. No, he couldn't be that stupid.

 

 

Later that afternoon, I had to undergo my `punishment'. Secretly, I hoped they had been kidding about the whole `you'll be scrubbing the art-room for a week'-part, but I knew that would be too much hope. Probably because I already spotted buckets, soap and sponges next to the art-room this morning when I walked by.

 

I sat down on a lonely chair, which was positioned on the right of the secretary desk. I hated the chair, because everyone who walked inside the building could see the chair. And I just know that everyone looked at me and thought `he's in trouble' when they saw me.

 

After nearly ten minutes of waiting, someone finally decided to free me from dying of embarrassment. I got up quickly, even though I knew that a decent appearance would do nothing to lessen my punishment.

 

It was Tsunade-sama, who was carrying a bunch of papers.

 

And Un-rapist, who looked just as sour as I did.

 

“Ah, Neji, I'm glad you are here already. The two of you can follow me.” Tsunade-sama said to both of us, and led to in the direction of the art-room. I silently followed her, not bothering to greet any of the two.

 

When we arrived, Tsunade-sama explained what we were supposed to do. She pointed to the bucket and told us that we had to clean the floors, desks and chairs. It was said to be really boring work.

 

And then Tsunade left, saying she wanted everything to be clean within 2 hours, leaving Mr. Un and I on our own.

 

I sighed to no one in particular, grabbed a bucket with sponge and textile duster, and walked to the other side of the room to get water. I ignored the blonde moping guy completely.

 

First I cleaned the chairs, and then the desks. It was really boring work, and soon enough, my attention switched from cleaning to checking out the room.

 

And then I noticed that I was being stared at by Mr. Un. I glared back angrily.

 

“What?” I said.

 

“Hn.” was his reply.

 

Normally I would leave conversations like this alone at this point; but since I was already being punished, I couldn't care less about riling him up as well.

 

“What's that for an answer, `Hn'? I thought you'd never leave your trademark `Un'?”

 

“Leave me alone, un.” Was the short reply. What was his problem anyway?

 

“Say, what is your problem anyway?” I countered back, and suddenly, on a whim, added, “What's your name?”

 

“Shut up.” Was his reply, without the `Un'.

 

I glared at him, angry that he hadn't answered my question. But he was already turning his head to the other side, to show he was completely ignoring him.

 

I gave his back a very foul glare, because I too turned my back to him. I went back to the boring task of cleaning the tables.

 

It was a really boring punishment.

 

And things got even worse as the blonde guy at the other side of the room started humming all of a sudden. As if his sour mood had vanished completely, and he didn't mind doing this work.

 

Weirdo.

 

“Ugh, I hate this work.” I randomly growled, just because I felt like doing just that. I wished for the umpteenth time it was done already.

 

“Hn, don't whine so much.” came the sudden reply from the other corner. Oh, now he did want to talk?

 

“This work isn't so bad, un.” The blonde kept on conversating this time. Weirdoe.

 

“But I hate work.”

 

“You'll get used to it.” Was the short reply.

 

“What do you mean by that? Are you speaking in experience?”

 

I was met by silence. I looked over to my right, only to see the slightly older boy smiling in a rather nostalgic way.

 

“OCD-kid, do you have any idea how long I've lived in this shitty place, un?”

 

“Hardly. I don't even know your name.”

 

“Deidara,” Was his reply, and “Six years.” His answer. Deidara, eh?

 

“Why are you here for, Deidara?”

 

“Danger for society, un.” His answers were getting shorter and shorter. But he was still answering my questions, so I didn't stop bugging him.

 

“You look like a girl, you always smile and you draw birds. Tell me, why exactly are you a danger for society?” And again, a rather nostalgic smile appeared on his face.

 

“I'm a borderline patient. And I don't smile all the time, un.”

 

“Borderline, eh? That means you are-“

 

“Plain crazy, un.”

 

“Err.. I wanted to say that you must feel unstable all the time.”

 

“Heh, that's one way of defining.”

 

“Yeah. And because you are unstable, you screw up all the time. And that's why you don't mind doing this work, for you always get in trouble because of your disorder.”

 

I got no answer.

 

Instead, Deidara was looking at me with a very foul look, like he wanted to hurt me really badly because I was so observant to point out his flaws correctly.

 

I smiled, just a little bit.

 

“You are pretty cool.” I said, before starting to draw a bird in the dust of the table in front of us.

 

(I was pleased to hear Deidara's loud laughter for the rest of the hour. And the next day, we sat next to each other in art-class and complimented each other for every bird that was drawn.)