The morning sun glistened brightly, almost blindingly, in an endless sea of blue. Cottony white clouds billowed lazily in the sky, almost as if time had froze in its place.

An average person would rejoice in the tranquility of the day.

… but who on this planet is ever average?

“AGH! I’m so bored!” a young girl wailed, her creamy white arms crossed over the back of her silvery locks and her lids lay over her bright blue irises.

Certainly not little Mari. Even though the placid serenity was something she truly enjoyed, she would rather revel in such silent perfection with another human being.

“I’d even hang out around my stupid teammate, Naruto…” she groused under her breath. She quickly snapped her eyes open in curiosity over the very thought. “Where is my team anyway?”

She paused in her place, dropping one of her arms to her side. Her other hand traveled to her chin, her fingers placed in the traditional thinking position.

Mari snapped her fingers, “Oh yeah! That’s right! How could I forget?”

Mari soon recalled how her two beloved teammates, Sakura and Naruto, left for a mission in a far-off village. Mari would have loved to join them… the only problem was, she was terribly ill. A very high fever in fact. Her two worried teammates, along with Kakashi who was also to join in the mission, came to visit her, inquiring about her health. They even offered to leave the next day. Maybe she would be fine by then. Mari thought she could not let them do such a thing. She knew it was a doozy so it really would be a waste if they waited.

At first, there was some protest, but they soon conceded to her wishes.

The last thing Mari remembered telling the two before they left was, “You guys better play things safe! I don’t want to hear that Sakura is having Naruto’s baby. Remember to use protection!”

They, in return, blushed furiously and glared at her for saying such provocative things. No matter how much they wanted to punish the silvery haired female, they knew it would be unfair to fight her in her sorry state.

Mari knew this completely and took that very moment to tease them with the most innocence she could project on her sickly face.

Little did she know of the surprise she would receive the day after her team’s departure.

“To think, if I said that they could wait a day, I would be there with them!” she griped irately, cursing herself in response. “That must have been my fever talking…”

Mari shrugged her shoulders, forlornly shuffling her feet through the dirt path.

There really was no other person she could hang out with for the remainder of the day.

The other ninjas she knew all busied themselves with some sort of work or were off on some sort of awesome mission. She even tried speaking with Lady Hokage for something.

“Saying there was ‘absolutely nothing’… HA! She had to be lying! There’s always some sort of mission going on… Tsunade-sama just wants little old me to suffer and die from boredom…” she mused bitterly. She resorted to believing that the other ninjas had sensed this day had forbade some sort of monotonous air and went straight to Lady Hokage for something in order to not feel an unnecessary umbrage against the old hag. Feeling angry over something as trivial as that was worse then disintegrating into dust because of the tedium.

Mari continued wandering aimlessly through the forest before resting underneath the verdant foliage of a nearby tree.

“Someone just kill me now and end this misery!” she whined, resting her weary head on her knees. Mari languidly redirected her weary gaze towards the horizon, hoping to see some sort of figure appear out of nowhere and rescue her from her monotony.

What she gazed at was even more magnificent than she expected.

Her eyes grew as wide as two saucers. An inaudible, small gasp escaped from her lips. Meeting her exhausted eyes was the most magnificent sunset she ever had the pleasure of witnessing.

The sun was a large, rosy orange that was disappearing along a lace of verdant green. The sky was a beautiful mixture of pinks, yellows, and oranges, easing the dark night into the quiet skies.

“it’s beautiful," she whispered, feeling that a single sound could easily disrupt such wondrous majesty. She was no stranger to the waning star that pledged to return with its invigorating rays the following morning. She watched it when she wasn’t off on some mission. For some reason though, for that one day she found the sight exceptionally glorious.

Mari sat up straight, her eyes concentrated on the veranda. A light smile touched her lips, causing her pallid face to light up. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle with increased fervor at the sight. She sat there for a few moments, wanting nothing more than to enjoy the view as long as she could in perfect silence.

…It seemed that wish could not be granted.

“Mari…” At the sound of her name, the poor girl jumped, frightened out of her wits. She took a few moments to collect herself, trying to calm her rapid heartbeat. With her breath uneven, she slowly turned her head around, searching for the source of the abrupt noise. She could not bring herself to move her lips and simply inquire who was there.

That would make my life ten times easier if I did… Mari thought.

Just when she thought she was going mental, Mari tilted her head upwards.

Her mouth twisted into an angry scowl as her bright eyes glared at the boy sitting right above her.

“Sai, what’s the matter with you?! You startled me!” she yelled at the dark haired boy.

Sai simply stared at her in a near dreamy state, his obsidian orbs concentrated on her and her only.

After a few moments of their staring match, Mari blinked, her anger slowly fizzling to irritation. “Hey, Sai? Are you still of this earth?”

Said slowly tore his attention from the inquiring kunoichi and returned to his artwork. “Yes, I am alright,” he replied evenly, his hands quickly resumed drawing.

Poor little Mari shrugged. She stood up, placed her little hands on her hips and pouted.

She just could not understand how he could remain so calmly. She was, after all, furious with him. Did he not sense it at all?

Typical Sai to be oblivious to my feelings… she grumbled in her mind before speaking aloud, “I hope you know you almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Sorry,” he replied brusquely, lacking the genuineness she needed to fully assuage her earlier misgivings.

“Well some sincerity would be just lovely…” she grumbled under her breath before articulating with more clarity, “Can you make some room?”

Without a word, Sai shifted towards the end of the branch, his circumspect gaze engrossed on the piece of paper. Mari leaped up from the ground to the little spot he made for her. She adjusted herself accordingly, quickly getting herself settled. “Thanks.”

Sai replied with a slight nod.

Well I guess stoic Sai is better than no company at all. She thought to her herself, feeling a smirk tug at her lips. She was just happy to have some sort of companion... even if he often kept to himself.

She soon inquired, “I thought you would be with Naruto and the others for that awesome mission. Why didn’t you go?”

Sai simply replied, “I didn’t want to.”

“Is there a reason why you didn’t want to?”

“Well…” he paused for a moment, considering his answer. Mari sat patiently at her side, anticipating his response. Just when the wait grew unbearable, her eyes slowly drooping to a close, Sai snapped his fingers. “I got it!”

Aroused by the sudden noise, Mari sprang up, readjusting herself before she slid from the tree’s limb.

“Yes?!” she nearly shouted out her question, her electrifying blue irises bursting with curiosity.

“…This color would easily bring this picture out…” he realized, decorating his parchment with a new shade.

Mari felt a watery droplet of precipitation slink down her temple, and she almost fell off the tree’s thin limb. She quickly reoriented herself, glaring at him.

“Sai, come on! You were supposed to answer my question! Not draw!” she whined.

“Well it’s a very simple question with an even simpler answer,” Sai replied cryptically, shooting a tiny nerve from Mari’s vapid temple.

“And in case you were not aware of this, I sort of want to know your response.”

Sai soon reflected over her retort, his fingers dexterously dashing against the paper. “Alright. Fair enough. There are two reasons why I did not embark on the mission.”

“And they are…?” Mari allowed the sentence to trail off, trying to goad him to continue.

“Naruto and the others desired me to keep a watchful eye on your health. The mission already fulfilled much of the required criteria concerning the number of people so my presence would not make any significant difference. Looking after your sickness seemed not too hard.”

“Okay…” Mari was perplexed. Through the entirety of her fleeting ailment, she had not even caught a glimpse of the elusive Sai. The only thought that seemed remotely plausible was that he had a precognition regarding her wellbeing. Of course, there was the omnipresent possibility he did not care, but who likes to think so pessimistically? “So what’s the second?”

“The mission was undoubtedly a bore and a waste of my valuable time,” he replied with absolutely no emotion.

As a bead of sweat formed on the back of her head, Mari thought, I should have known that was his real reason…

Her eyes narrowed. The more Mari thought about it, the more her second thought seemed more so valid.

Her oceanic orbs resumed its original state as her curious nature got the better of her.

“Hey, Sai, what are you drawing?”

“..A drawing” he replied.

Mari resisted the automatic urge to pout and roll her eyes. “Gee, that wasn’t obvious. I wouldn’t have guessed.” Mari scooted a little closer. “Can I see?”

Just when she caught a glimpse of a figure’s silhouette, Sai slammed the book shut. “No.”

“But why not?”

“Simply because I don’t want you to. That’s all.”

“But you let me see all your other art work you draw in your other notebooks!” Mari tried countering, trying to locate a good reason to allow her access.

“Well if you haven’t noticed, this is not an ordinary notebook,” Sai pointed out for the silvery haired female. She slid back, examining the book more closely as Sai reopened it and continued drawing.

He’s right… it is different. His words had only ignited a burning curiosity rather than snuffing all possible hope. Mari sighed, pushing back her gray tendrils behind her ear.

“So, um, Sai? If you don’t mind me asking, can I have a piece of paper and a drawing utensil?” Mari asked.

Sai nodded his head. He swiftly went to the back of his book, ripped out a sheet of paper, and handed it to her along with a sharpened pencil.

“Um, thanks,” she replied, taking them both from his hands. No matter how much she wanted to, Mari fought back a disappointed chagrin.

There goes that plan… she bemused as Sai quietly chuckled at her reaction, his amused eyes still perfectly fixated on his picture.

She sighed and stared at her blank sheet. Mari recalled that Sai had always been the quiet, reserved type of guy ever since he joined their team. Not many words escaped from his lips… except occasionally doting Sakura as “ugly”.

Their relationship had always been that of polite cordiality, even if Mari wanted to get closer to him in some way. After all, she felt connected to him in the artistic sense. Mari considered him her senpai with anything pertaining to art. She just wanted a relationship that was equivocal to friendship. She was not even sure if he regarded her as an acquaintance.

She did enjoy being around him though there was little conversation. It was quite peaceful in comparison to the pounding headaches she received whenever hung around Naruto.

Even if that knucklehead is now ten times more mature, he still can drive people typically insane…

“Mari?” Sai asked, barely catching her attention.

“Yes, Sai?”

“…What do you consider Naruto as?” Sai asked.

She lifted her gaze from the blank sheet, her face quizzical. “What do you mean by that?”

He stopped stroking the art piece for one moment, striving to figure out another way of wording his question. He continued with his sketch and asked again, “What do you consider your relationship with Naruto?”

“Naruto? He’s really annoying I guess, and we’ve been friends for a really long time,” Mari reflected absently.

“…So only as a friend right?” he articulated for clarification.

“Yep, I believe so. Maybe a brother even, but I doubt I would even want that annoying twit related to me in any way. Why?”

Sai bluntly stated, “No reason. I was just wondering if you liked him anymore than that.”

Mari looked at Sai oddly, ruminating his words for a few moments. All color drained from her face as realization dawned over her. “OH NO FREAKIN’ GOD! There is no way on this planet will I ever think of Naruto as that. Why would you even think that?”

As Mari started gagging at the very suggestion, Sai replied finitely, “Well I just thought you two were fairly close. Didn’t mean much by it.”

“Yeah… okay. I understand… sort of.” The moment she was sure she was not going to lose her lunch anytime soon, she resettled herself.
Seeing the subject then had officially passed, she reverted her attention down the sheet, her fingers languidly stroking the parchment with the lead tip.

What am I even drawing? I mostly wanted this piece of paper because I wanted to try and see what was in that mysterious notebook of his…

She turned her head towards all sorts of directions, searching for some sort of subject or an inspiration.

Then she found it. Her aqueous blue eyes stopped in pure awe as she gazed out into the sunset, now colored with rich shades of pinks, plums, and some blues.

She quickly went to work, carefully capturing the moment onto the white sheet. Her eyes were narrowed in fervent concentration, glancing upwards occasionally.

She then took a break, staring at her work thus far.

Hey! This is not bad! It’s not really the best, but it’s good enough for me. Mari thought, smiling to herself. She looked up, to see how her silent companion was doing.

Her eyes widened, feeling as if they were going to rocket out of their sockets. Her lips released a very low breath, slightly dropping open.

Whoa…

The sunset seemed to make Sai’s whole being… glow. His raven hair glittered in the waning sun. His obsidian orbs glimmered like little diamonds. His pale skin seemed to radiate in the light.

Mari felt completely spellbound at the sight, her gaze almost entranced – enchanted even – by the ethereal figure that shined before her. She quickly dropped her gaze back to her artwork, afraid Sai would catch her staring – gawking to be more accurate – at him. Her eyes instinctively blinked. Her hand had been unconsciously sketching him throughout that whole time. Mari had to admit, it was pretty good compared to many of her drawings. She drew several details fairly well.

His focused gaze as he looked down at drawing, his smooth ebony tresses that began falling into his eyes, his muscular abdomens that peeked out from his shirt…

She forced her hand to halt. Omigod! Mari didn’t know how she should react. Her free hand traveled to her mouth as she fought back a ferocious blush. If Sai sees this, I’ll die…

“Hey are you done with your picture?” Mari jumped, hugging the paper to her chest. Her heart raced from the fright, gazing into Sai’s baffled eyes. “Are you okay?”

Mari nodded her head. She could not even open her mouth to reply. Words simply failed her.

His eye’s narrowed, scrutinizing her carefully, before smacking his hand onto her forehead. “…No temperature.”

At first, Mari was confused, staring at him with a rather blank expression.

“Oh! I’m alright, Sai. I’m not sick,” she assured him, slowly pushing his hand from her head.

“Are you sure? Your face is really red,” he remarked. This comment made her feel even more embarrassed, causing her cheeks to flush an even deeper shade of crimson.

There goes trying to hide it…

“See? Now it’s getting redder. You must still be sick.”

Her head fell downcast, finding both herself and the general situation completely hopeless. She quickly forced her humiliation away from her visage and consoled him, “Sai, it’s nothing! I really am fine.”

…other than the fact I want to crawl under a rock…

Mari hugged her heart closer to her chest as she violently shook her head. “NO! It’s far from done! Why do you ask?”

“Because I want to see what you’ve done so far,” he replied bluntly.

“Well I must apologize, but I cannot allow such an act from occurring.”

“Well I must apologize, but I cannot allow such an act from occurring.”

Sai was taken aback. “May I query why not? You allow me access to everything else you draw.”

A smirk tugged at her lips as she replied, “The reason is simple. This is no ordinary piece of paper.”

“It’s… not,” he repeated skeptically, challenging her to offer further elaboration.

“Yes! This was obtained from your mysterious notebook, which you denied me access. If only you show the contents of said notebook, then there is some possibility I will present my own art to you,” Mari countered, paraphrasing an earlier refusal by a certain artist.

That certain artist was fully aware of that fact and chuckled. “Touché, but your refute is completely inapplicable. That has to be the most feeble argument I ever heard,” he admitted, still chuckling.

“No, it’s not! It’s completely plausible!” she disputed vehemently, pouting.

Sai shook his head, “Oh that’s what you think. Now that we established our views on that issue, I will be looking at your picture now.”

Sai quickly grabbed the piece of paper and slowly tried pulling it out from her arms.

“No! I won’t let you have it!” She shouted, tugging the piece of paper towards her.

“Why are you so obstinate?” Sai grunted as he continued pulling the paper from her grip.

“Well why are you so persistent?” Mari retorted, holding onto the paper for dear life.

If Sai sees this, I don’t know if I can prevent myself from dying from complete embarrassment! she thought.

“YOU WILL NOT HAVE THIS!”

It was a vicious game of tug of war. Sai and Mari were faced with a complete impasse. Neither made any indications of moving. Mari held her ground to the best of her ability as she fought Sai with all her might. He did the same. The main difference between these two combating forces was that Sai was much stronger than the petite girl. Even though Mari held her ground to the best of her ability, she knew she could not hold on for much longer.

And that moment was now.

The paper slid out from her grip, causing the two to topple backwards. Mari fell back towards the trunk while her companion crashed into the opposite direction, sliding right over his notebook. This thin book, along with Mari’s paper, fluttered all over the ground below them.

“NO!” they both shouted as they leaped off the tree’s extremity.

Mari and Sai viciously worked to grab all of the fallen sheets, Mari’s mind in a total frenzy.

Must find my paper. Must find my paper. Must find my paper! She did not care – or was too engrossed in her search to think – especially looking at Sai’s work, which was the majority of the fallen sheets. All she wanted to find was her specific paper, which, in her frazzled mindset, meant grabbing as many pieces of paper as she possibly could before Sai.

She dashed around the meadow in speed she was not aware she had, picking every little piece she could get her hands on. Once their clean up was completed, they released ragged shrugs, straightening out their respective piles.

And it seems like I got the most… Mari deliberated as Sai held his feeble stack, his dexterous fingers already paging through it.

She was sure her drawing was in her stack. It had to be. By the sizes of their piles, her odds were very high. She slowly looked at the top sheet.

Wow…

The first drawing that reached her sapphire eyes was the gorgeous horizon… one that Sai drew rather than her own. He had colored the scene perfectly, making her proud sketch look like a child’s work.

It’s so pretty… Mari grimaced, feeling all confidence reserved for herself and her artistic ability dissipate.

Every line… each color… everything in general was absolutely fantastic.

She reveled in each and every little detail, immersing herself in its magnificence.

Then her electric blue eyes faltered. What is that?

She would have passed it by if she had not been so heavily taken in by his art.

She brought the piece closer to her face, making sure her eyes were not seeing things. Mari noted that there was a strange figure, gender unknown, sitting underneath a large oak. The figure’s countenance was unseen, facing the direction of the waning sun.

The only thing she did was a short silvery tendrils.

She tentatively fingered her own cropped cut for a few moments. This… this picture,,, it can’t possibly… Mari quickly shook her head, inwardly scoffing at the thought.

I really must be ill for even thinking of such a thought! This is all my crazy imagination!

Just when she grew to accept that fact, a piece of paper fell from her thick stack, flitting onto the green blades. Mari quickly picked it off the floor. The very moment it was in her hands, she could not believe what she had seen.

This… this picture… she stammered, blinking her eyes repetitively to make her eyes did not deceive her. No matter how many ways Mari looked at it, the picture was undoubtedly a sketch of a girl.

And that girl… looks like me.

The evidence was absolute. Everything was the same. Her silvery hair, her aqueous blue eyes... Mari had no doubt in her mind it was her. Every detail seemed flawless. She felt she was staring at a photograph rather than sketch.

But why me? I’m not much of a subject… When would he do this?

Mari knew the answer. She looked back to the first drawing and the mysterious figure that sat under the tree. NO WAY! He drew this while I was staring at the sunset?

There had to be a mistake. Why would he spend that much time observing her as she stared out into the horizon?

Even the horizon is a better subject than me!

But she again remembered there was no disputing it. Every single line had formed her.

This is just one of those weird coincidences. Sai would not waste his talent on me. Mari thought he could not have found her so interesting that he would draw her, scrutinizing every aspect. She deliberated that must be more people.

She paged through the pictures, trying to find someone else.

All she found was… herself. In all forms. Sometimes it showed her full body, only upper body, and occasionally capturing only her face. She stopped at the last picture, seeing a rough outline of her, her eyes narrowed in concentration and fingers stroking a piece of paper… Now, when could he had done that?

She flipped back to the first photo, gawking at it.

“Mari, you got all that?” Sai asked, causing her to jump and intrinsically holding her pile to her chest. He blinked several times, allowing her to catch her breath. “Mari, are you well?”

Mari mumbled with the last of her breath, “In which sense?”

Sai considered that for a few moments and replied, “Mentally and physically, I suppose, but I mostly am curious about your mental health.”

Mari tried speaking again, but squeaked out, “Uh-huh. F..Fine.”

Sai nodded his head in acknowledgment. “Okay. Well… may I have those? I think the majority, if not all, belong to me.”

Mari nodded her head, her hands unconsciously giving her pile to him. “Thank you,” he muttered robotically and smiling his signature insincere grin before paging through the pack.

Usually, Mari would be upset. She worked very hard to pick up all those papers and wanted a sincere thank you. Of course, she may have just yelled at him for that annoying artificial smile of his, but she usually just offers a hardy punch on the face. The only problem with that is it happens so often that she cannot beat him every time she sees it. Kakashi would be upset to hear their dark-haired teammate is unable to go on any missions because he was hospitalized.

But at that moment, Mari could not notice anything. Only one question reiterated itself in her confused mind: Why would Sai draw her? It did not make much sense.

“Mari, I honestly believe you need rest,” Sai’s voice broke through her musings, catching her attention.

“Huh?” she said, before articulating more intelligibly, “How many times do you want me to tell you that I’m not sick?”

Sai’s lips tightened into a thin line as he replied, “Your face is flushed again. It’s not as bright red it was moments before, but it’s still troubling.”

“Really?” Mari quickly felt that warmth in her cheeks. She fought back the sensation of curling up into a tiny ball as an even brighter blush that began creeping up her neck. “No, please. Don’t think too much of it. Believe me. It’s nothing.”

My poor heart can’t take it…

“Alright.” Sai said, his eyes dropping down to the pile. He bit his lip, confliction swirling his dark orbs.

“Sai?” She looked at him. Once she assuaged her bright cheeks back to its normal color, she added, “What’s up with you? Something’s on your mind. I can tell.”

Sai shook his head from his deep contemplation as he met her gaze. He opened his mouth, but quickly closed it, dropping his gaze back down to the sheets.

“Sai, tell me now or else I won’t leave you alone. I will annoy you like I never annoyed you before.”

“Okay, fine,” Sai quickly spoke up, shuddering at the very thought, irking the silver kunoichi. “I was just thinking about this…”

He slowly lifted the first picture from his pile and showed it to her.

“NOOO!!!” What Sai was gazing at… was her picture. “It was in your pile? That’s just not right. I was supposed to have better odds…”

Sai nodded his head. “And I was just wondering why you never showed it to me before.” Mari dropped her gaze, biting her lip.

“Well… I guess I was…” Mari began gradually, but Sai cut her off.

“Sure, the clouds look like puffy marshmallows rather than actual clouds, and the tree’s lines are a bit messy… Hmm…” Sai grabbed his pencil and began adjusting her artwork.

“SAI! I didn’t want to hear your criticism!” Mari hastily snatched the paper from his hands, her vision suddenly becoming blurry with… tears?

Mari thought it was because she found his words hurtful… much harsher than his usually tactless remarks. She only drew it because she needed something to do, but she thought she did not do it that badly. Hearing him talk so poorly of it…

“Mari, are you upset?” Sai asked, scrutinizing her expression carefully.

“No, this is nothing,” she sniffled, closing her eyes as a single tear streamed down her cheek. “Not like you care though…”

Then she felt a hand wipe the tear away from her cheek.

Mari lifted her gaze up to meet Sai's scorching obsidian spheres. "...I'm sorry if I was inconsiderate, Mari. I shouldn't have allowed myself to be so distracted. I never finished."

Mari sniffled. "You... You didn't?"

Sai shook his head. "I just wanted to say overall, this picture is very good. You do have an eye. This veranda is an excellent backdrop, and you captured it fairly well."

A light smirk touched his lips as Mari calmed down, blinking away the remainder of her tears. "Thank you. I needed that."

"Well you deserved it… especially since you captured me exquisitely."

Mari froze in her place, gawking at him. W…what?

"I never knew you observed me so well and found me such a suitable subject. It's flattering even if you are a flat chested kunoichi!"

"I didn't mean it like that!" she exclaimed, feeling her face redden and fighting an angry nerve that threatened to erupt from her temple. Seriously, a boy does not tell a girl she has no chest!

Welcome back, mean Sai… He always did have a way to cheer a girl up… I mean that was uncalled for! My chest has nothing to do with this. Mari thought, dropping her face into her palms.

"I mean look at this, you got me under such an attractive light. I wonder what encouraged you to do this," he gushed with a light smile. He cocked his head, seeing her drop her flushed face into her hands. "Mari, are y...?"

"I'm fine! Don't you dare ask," a muffled form of her voice escaped from her hands.

"Okay."

Once she calmed herself, she looked curiously at his pile, recalling the images she observed moments before. "Um, since you had a chance to talk about my picture, may I say something?"

"Of course," Sai said. "What’s on your mind?"

"Um... Just this?" Mari quickly reached in and pulled out a picture from his pile. For once, she was lucky. The silver kunoichi showed him a picture of his version of the horizon.

Sai's face tensed as he stared at her. His expression quickly relaxed as he asked, "Ah you saw that? Yeah, that's why what I was here. What's your verdict?"

"I think it's amazing. When I saw it actually made me feel bad about my own work," she admitted. A tiny smirk tugged at his lips, glad to hear she approved of it. "That wasn’t the only thing I noticed."

“Whatever do you mean?”

She pointed to the tiny figure under the tree. "Who is that, Sai?"

His face hardened, staring blankly at the place where her index finger pointed to. "It's nothing. Don't worry yourself over it."

"Oh really?" A sly smiled crept onto her lips. "Funny I thought this was a girl."

"A girl?" he repeated incredulously.

"Oh yes!" she swiped another picture from his bulging pack and holding it for him to. "Me, to be exact."

Sai's eyes widened, quickly snatching the second picture from her hand. "So... You saw?" Mari nodded her head. "So what do you want? Blackmail or something?"

Mari placed her hands on her hips as she said, "God, Sai! You'd think I'd do that to you?" Sai remained silent, answering her question. "I’m not that bad. I just wanted to ask why me? I know I'm now an interesting subject."

Sai examined her for a few moments, constructing his response. The ebony shinobi shrugged his shoulders. “I apologize, Mari, but I am sad to inform you that your assertion has been denied.”

“Huh?” she asked, wondering what such elaborate words meant.

Sai rolled his onyx eyes and impatiently articulated in words that he was sure she would understand, “No.”

“Oh…” Mari realized then pursed her lips. “Why not?”

“Simply because now is not a proper time to tell you something like that,” Sai reasoned. Mari nearly radiated waves of doubt. “I promise you that the reason shall be made clear all in due time.”

He quickly snatched the two pictures from her unsuspecting hands and quickly stuffed it into his pile.

“Fine…” she responded lackadaisically, uncertain if she should believe him based only on that impassive assurance.

Her silvery gray orbs watched in curious fascination as he stuffed all his paper and coloring instruments neatly back into his bag and took out a single piece of paper, rolled into a tight tube.

“Sai?” she asked as he reached the paper out to her with a curious smile on his face. “What’s this?”

“Open it and find out,” he replied with zero emotion – one that offered absolutely no assurances to ease her nervous heart.

Mari looked down at the paper carefully, retrieving it from his hands. She was not sure about anything – not even that smile on his face. She had been the master of deciphering his stoic facial expressions and especially seeing if his smiles were fake or real. Right now, she could not even begin to fathom if there is even the slightest bit of sincerity curved on his lips, or everything was just another phony sham.

With her hand tremulous, she unraveled the long strip of parchment… and saw something she never expected to see.

Written in elegant calligraphy were the words, “Get Well Soon!”, adorned in beautiful colors that ranged as far as the rainbow. The backdrop was a clean, dark coloring, accentuating the bright words that nearly popped off the page.

“S… Sai…?” He quickly cut her off, pointing to a scroll that lay within the colorful picture. Her gaze fell as she lifted the tiny scroll from its perch. “Um, should I…?”

Sai nodded his head as he smiled, and once again, Mari failed to indentify as either genuine or infamously counterfeit.

…Jeez, Sai must be getting good at this smiling business…

Mari gazed the clean white tube, tentatively unraveling it with unsteady fingers. What was in this scroll? Knowing Sai, her present for getting better would be some ferocious lion, or a poisonous snake… OR WORSE.

An annoying, chatty version of Naruto!!! She shuddered at the very thought, quickly opening it. Lying within its clean white surroundings was not a lion, or a snake, or a chibi version of Naruto.

“A rose?” she wondered aloud, gazing curiously at the delicate flower, void of all color.

Suddenly she watched it dance off the pages, fluttering gracefully onto her pale hand. It spun like a ballerina twirling in a never-ending pirouette.

“And now for the finale…” Sai murmured, his fingers placed in their traditional hand sign. He controlled the rose to fly upwards, flapping its delicate petals to gain altitude.

Once there was proper proximity from the silver haired girl, Sai snapped his fingers.

The rose disappeared in a low pop as the excess ink fluttered back to the grassy floor earth like fallen petals.

Mari’s smile widened in pure bliss, ecstasy sparkling in her electric blue eyes. “Oh my god..”

Sai softened his smile and asked, “Do you like it?”

She snapped her head up towards him and asked in return, “What do you think?”

His countenance grew solemn, considering her inquiry. “I honestly don’t know. If you really liked it, wouldn’t you have said ‘thank you’ or something already?”

Mari gawked the dark-haired male for a few moments, truly shocked to hear such a statement. Was he even oblivious to the most obvious of emotions that brightened her rosy features? She surely thought he did.

As sweetly as she could, Mari tried to forget his oblivious nature over the realm of emotions and said, “Okay, um thank you so much, Sai! I truly loved it!” A wider smiled tugged on his lips, inducing a warmth that crept from her neck. “Um… yeah. It was all really beautiful. How…”

There her sentence was cut off by a pair of lips.

Everything just came so quickly that she was not sure what she should think. All she was able to discern in this lovely infinity was Sai’s soft lips against her own, his sweet scent nearly consuming every fiber of her being. All she wanted to feel was herself drowning in his aroma…

Then the kiss was broken. Sai looked at her with curious eyes, gauging her overall expression.

“S…Sai? What just happened?” she asked in a dreamy voice, feeling quite lightheaded.

“Well isn’t it obvious? I kissed you,” he pointed out for her.

“Um, yeah. I think I knew that much…” She nibbled on her bottom lip, fending off the ever-resilient blush. Once she was sure her face would not explode into a bright red, Mari added, “I just want to know why, I guess.”

Sai replied, “Well that’s not a terribly difficult question either. That should be obvious also.”

“It is?” she blurted out.

The raven-haired one nodded his head. “Of course! Isn’t that an action one does to show their affection? It even said so in my textbook.”

“Oh! That makes se… wait! WHAT?!” the girl’s bright blue irises widened. Her mouth plummeted to the floor. “Did you… what… huh?”

Mari was so shocked by the sudden proclamation that she could no longer form whole sentences.

Unfazed by her stupefaction, Sai repeated patiently, “Isn’t that what a person does to show their affection? My book also stated many other displays of infatuation. Let’s see…” he quickly dove into his pouch and retrieved a tiny book. His fingers ran through several pages before the artist discovered the page he was searching for. “Ah-hah! Here it is. Other actions include paying special attention and spending time with them, worrying about their health and overall wellbeing, and would want them to make them smile, especially when they are upset.”

As Sai placed the book neatly into his bag, the silver haired girl stood motionless in her place. She was rendered into such a stupor that she didn’t know how to react.

She did know one thing.

Wow… Sai actually gets advice from a book. I thought he was bizarre before… Mari thought, feeling a watery drop of sweat roll down the back of her skull.

But several facts did make sense. That was the reason why he allowed her to sit with him on the branch and why he attempted to make her feel better. Cheering people was never his forte and he inevitably just makes matters worse. Was that the reason why he was able to draw her with such excruciating detail? In her mind, it did make some sense…

Soon another realization hit her. “Oh… that’s the reason why you stayed, wasn’t it?”

“Well… perhaps so. I was concerned over your condition that I tried making you that card,” Sai admitted, pointing to the scroll that Mari still held tightly in her hands. “I was working hard to prepare it. When I was planning on checking up on you and present it, I saw you were finally well. I suppose I was a little disappointed that it my gift was worthless, but I decided to just make my gift better in spite of that.”

Mari nodded her head in consideration, looking down at the white scroll.

“Oh, and here’s another thing I learned from this book,” Sai pointed out. Mari cocked her head to the side, accentuating her curious demeanor and encouraging him to elaborate.

“Well the book told me to always brace myself if the target of affection does not reciprocate a similar emotion.”

Mari felt her eyes slowly bulge out of her sockets. “What?”

Why am I so apprehensive of what that crazy artist will say next?

“I guess what I am trying to say is that I understand if you do not feel the same way.”

The silvery haired girl was at a loss of how she should respond. Seeing her dumbfounded expression, Sai took all liberties to elucidate. “I mean, you never made any implications you felt similarly towards me. My textbook told me that when those of the female sex are attracted to boy, they would look at him when the person is not looking, they would ask for their opinion or assistance on several matters, laugh at their jokes…”

Mari quickly blurted out, “But Sai! You are not funny! Anyone with a sense of humor would know that!”

His lips curved into a tiny frown as he replied, “Still… you would laugh at Naruto’s jokes, and most of the time they’re just idiotic…”

“Whoa! Wait a minute! So was that why you asked what I thought of Naruto? To see if I…
liked him?”

Sai gravely nodded his head. “Of course, you exhibited that one sign. I could not help, but feel a tiny bit curious.”

Mari quickly countered, “But just looking at him is funny! I mean that imbecile is wearing a gaudy orange jumpsuit for god’s sake! I just laugh at him for that.”

“I suppose that is up for debate…” An annoyed nerve shot up from Mari’s pallid temple. “Now let’s see… in my textbook there were a bunch of other signs. There’s al…”

Before another word could escape his lips, the silver-haired girl smashed her lips into his. She quickly broke the kiss, pleased to see that befuddled look on Sai’s face.

“You know what, Sai?” Mari said. “For an artist who seldom speaks, you sure do have a lot to say on this matter. You don’t even ask how I feel…”

The shocked artist blinked several times, confused. “Oh? How do you feel then?”

The silvery kunoichi stared at him for a few moments before shaking her head. “I knew you were oblivious, but this is just ridiculous… think of it this way. You are the biggest and most insensitive jerk I have ever met. Most people, especially Sakura and Naruto, cannot stand being in your presence. I find myself questioning why I even hang around you. In spite of all that, I’m still standing here with you, the most irritating boy I ever met. Now do you understand yet?”

Sai ruminated her facts, processing them in his intellectual mind. He then looked at her even more confused then ever before.

Mari groaned. “Oh my god! You can be so frustrating sometimes! How can not see I love you already!?”

Bright obsidian widened at that statement. The silver kunoichi realized her verbal blunder and swiftly covered her mouth.

“Oh my god! I didn’t mean to say that so openly!” She cried, fighting a bright scarlet flush from rushing into her cheeks. She dropped her reddened face into her hands, concealing her mortification. “Oh my god…”

A cold hand slowly parted her face from her hands, forcing her ultramarine orbs to meet his ebony irises.

“Is that true?” He asked softly, his breath sweeping over her face like a gentle caress.

“Y… Yes. It is. Even though I believe I must be mentally impaired if I actually care for someone who has no sensitive bone in his body,” she stuttered, feeling her mind melt into a wet puddle as she stared into his eyes.

“But you never exhibited the signs in my book…”

“Well, if you haven’t noticed, I’m not an ordinary female,” she said with a light smirk. “If I was, I would think you were a stalker for drawing all those images.”

“But, even a strange female like yourself can still think that. Do you?” He asked her worriedly.

“… God, you’re so lucky I’m not even that kind of girl!” Sai smiled, pleased by her response. “So… can I ask you another question?”

Seeing Sai nod his head in approval, she asked, “Um, so was that why you drew all those sketches of me?”

Sai simply grinned and replied, “Well even if you think you are not an intriguing subject, I surely think so. You really are a very attractive.”

Instead of watching a brilliant smile grace her lips, her mouth was pressed into a thin line, her eyes dropping downcast, crestfallen. “Oh… that’s it?”

“I believe so. Why? Would you be happier if I said you were a hideous piglet or something?”

“No, but I’m going to remember that!” Mari interjected then released a sigh. “I was just… sort of hoping to hear you say how you feel about me.”

“But I thought I just did. Are you deaf?”

Mari furiously shook her head. “No! Not in the way you did it. It was embellished with all this flowery language and all that smart book stuff… I just want you to state it simply. I’m not that book smart!”

“No need to state the obvious…” Sai said bluntly.

With a nervousness flickering over her oceanic orbs, Mari ignored his derision and gazed into his dark eyes. “Sai, do you love me or not?”

Silence engulfed the air, forcing a slight breeze to rustle her silvery tendrils. Mari held her breath. She even felt her own heart cease beating.

After a long excruciating eternity, Sai’s lips moved. “If you really are that dense, yes, Mari. I love you too.”

Mari’s heart skipped a beat before it stopped altogether. She allowed a bright smile to spread over her lips as she ran to give Sai a joyful embrace.

“Thank you, Sai,” Mari mumbled as she buried her face into his black shirt. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”

“Finally… women are so hard to please…” Mari chuckled. “And now I wish to ask you a very important question.” Mari looked up, bliss lighting her face. “Are you sure you are well? Your face is red again.”

Mari again chuckled, realizing she allowed a bright scarlet to blossom over her features. “I guess I sort of am!” she replied. “I think I’m love sick.”

“Ah… an ailment that affects the heart. That’s troublesome to cure,” he joked.

“Well I consider it the good kind of disease,” Mari admitted, drawing a grin to grace even Sai’s face. “Come on. It’s late, and I’m starving!”

Sai nodded his head. “Of course, you always think of your stomach, do you? Maybe you and Uzumaki Naruto were separated at birth… you two are so alike…”

Mari gently socked his elbow, ambling beside him under the now starry sky, with his hand in hers.

Love: A wildly misunderstood although highly desirable malfunction of the heart which weakens the brain, causes eyes to sparkle, cheeks to glow, blood pressure to rise, and lips to pucker.

Yep… this is one ailment I think I can deal with…