I walked through the hallway as quickly as possible, darting in and out of massive crowds of other students. I remembered that I had to also make an explanation of why I chose the words I did…Crap. That was going to be a hard one to do without making myself seem extra stupid. Maybe I could ask Tsunade-sensei for help with the assignment. No, I thought, she wouldn’t help. She’d more likely tell my Language sensei that I wasn’t doing my work. Ugh.
I got into my class and sat down in the middle of nowhere, thinking who I should ask for help. I saw Anko-sensei walking into the class next door- her Art classroom, and got an idea. A few seconds after the bell rang, I went to Tsunade-sensei’s desk.
Tsunade: What do you want?
Me: Can I get a pass to go to Anko-sensei’s room?
Tsunade: Why?
Me: We’re supposed to illustrate a paper for Language, and I need help deciding what to draw and how to draw it.
Tsunade: Fine.
She wrote me a pass. I grabbed it before she could change her mind, went to my desk, grabbed a pencil and my paper, and went over to Anko-sensei’s room. She was drawing a stick figure on the board. I stayed outside for her to finish and sit down, so I wouldn’t be interrupting her.
“This,” she said, tapping the stick figure with a piece of chalk, “shows me that you need help!” She scribbled out the stick figure and quickly sketched a person. “This,” she continued, “shows me that you need help as well! You need to put EMOTION into your drawings! Don’t just make lines on paper! That will get you nowhere! Your art has to SAY something! Well? Who agrees with me!”
All hands went up. “Good!” Anko said, grinning and erasing the drawings on the board. “Now get to work! I’ll be here if you need me!” She turned around to go to her desk and started working on a clay sculpture. I took that as my queue to go in, and did so. She looked up.
Anko: Naruto! Were you transferred into my class when I wasn’t looking?
Me: No, but I need help with something.
Anko: Help? Sure, I can help. What do you need?
I passed her my paper and explained my problem.
Anko: Ah, you have a typical person’s dilemma. You aren’t looking into the person when you’re labeling someone, just seeing their outside. I suggest that you actually watch your subjects to get a better idea of them. Don’t use only your opinion of them.
She tapped where I had erased Sasuke’s name twice.
Anko: That, for example. And all the others seem pretty obvious words, just slapped onto paper. Words without emotion is like a painting without paint!
Me: Er…how can you make a painting without paint?
Anko: Exactly! You can’t! Now, how about you go and start?
Me: Who should I start with, though?
Anko-sensei looked at my paper for a moment, and then tapped Sasuke’s erased name again.
Anko: You don’t know Sasuke much, do you? Observe his artwork, and you’ll see some of his soul, though it’s not exactly the prettiest soul I’ve seen.
Me: Er…okay, Anko-sensei. Do you have any work of Sasuke’s that I can look at?
Anko: Sure!
She went to a file cabinet, ran her finger down the front, and stopped at a drawer. She pulled it open and waved me to it.
Anko: Be careful handling the work. I advise you not to look at it all at once.
Me: Why?
Anko: Usually, people get frightened when they see that much of a display of anguish. That’s why I don’t let the councilor see Sasuke’s work.
Me: Uh…
She winked and went back to working on her clay sculpture. It took me a while to decide to look in the drawer.
The first picture was a bit confusing. It was a thick piece of art paper covered with splotches of red, yellow, grey, white, and black paint. I turned it around and realized that I had been looking at it upside down, although the correct picture was a more than a little freaky. It was a yellow field covered with pale dead bodies covered with blood. The sky was grey with white clouds pouring red tears covering a whitish-yellow sun that was beginning to rise from behind the heaps of corpses. I sweatdropped, automatically realizing why Anko kept this from the councilor.
I looked on the back, reading the title that had been written in thin, accurate handwriting:
Red Mourning
Ha-ha. Very funny play on words- mourning instead of morning. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ending of sarcasm. I put the paper back in the drawer and wondered why someone would want to make such a…dark…picture.
Me: Um, Anko-sensei?
Anko: Hm?
Me: Er…is there someone else’s work that I can look at?
Anko: Hm…Was Sasuke’s to angsty for you?
Me: No…Well, yeah. It was.
Anko: Of course it was. Now you have to understand WHY he makes his art like that, WHY he doesn’t make happy drawings like most people.
Me: How am I supposed to find that out?
Anko: Hm…look closely at one of his sculptures. There are five or six in total, I can’t remember how many. But one has writing on it.
Me: I have to look at six sculptures.
Anko: M-hm.
Me: That are filled with stuff that’s going to give me nightmares?
Anko: What do you think channels through his art?
Me: Huh?
Anko: You just said his work would give you nightmares. He has to put nightmares into that work, then, to give nightmares to the art.
Me: I still don’t get it.
Anko: Then look at those sculptures!
Me: Fine…
I swear she hates me.
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Chapter notes: Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Note: I have a few chapters done already, so I decided that I might as well post another while I have internet acsess.
Another note: This one is one of the chapters with angsty-ish stuff. Guess who it's talking about? Sasuke! Big surprise, eh?