Sakura looked out the window for the third time that evening, casting curious eyes over the dewy soil and plant-life. She couldn't help but peek even further past the linen curtain when a gentle rumble could be heard high overhead, past the dark clouds roiling in and covering the sky.

"It's going to rain again," she stated plainly, drawing away from the curtain and allowing it to drape across the window in her place.

Kakashi sighed and followed her gaze. "Unbelievable. It's rained for three straight days already." He wrinkled his nose at the window, acting as if scowling at the bad weather would make it go away.

"Are we waiting it out again?"

"We can't keep waiting it out. At this rate, we might end up having to go through it."

She nodded like the good teammate she was, but was inwardly groaning at the misfortune. If only their team's navigator had gotten the weather signs right, they would've been well on their way to their destination of Sunagakure by now, and possibly well on their way back home. Having thought of him, she sent a wary glance in his direction.

As usual, his calm face betrayed none of his thoughts, but she was almost sure he was deeply considering their situation… almost. The map he probably should've been studying was tucked neatly under his arm as he sat with the Bingo Book placed neatly in his lap. He cradled his cheek in one hand, his elbow resting squarely on his bent knee, and used the other one to absently flip a page. Normally, she would've been infuriated at his nonchalance, but she sighed and considered two things: being a navigator might've been new to him, and group missions might've been new to him too. Sakura sighed again and fought with the idea to be pissed at him or be sympathetic. Finally, she decided sympathy was better since she didn't really want to make it that much harder on him.

"Would you like to look at the map together, Sai-kun?"

He looked up from the pages of the book and glanced blankly at her. She was holding out her hand in anticipation, motioning with her fingers in a beckon for him to hand it over. He continued to stare at her, making her slightly uncomfortable, until he finally held it out and gently placed it in her palm. She promptly untied the string holding it and unrolled the scroll on the ground, using both hands to weight the furling ends. Sai then watched her eyes scan over the streams, land formations and hilltops before immersing himself in his book yet again. She chose to ignore the fact she'd asked for his help too, and opted to study it herself.

Moments of silence ticked by, one by one. Kakashi sat at the far corner of the room organizing his scrolls and smaller weaponry, every now and then exiting the room to tend to other matters, while Naruto occupied the corner nearest the two, sleeping soundly. The Jinchuuriki's snores normally could've been heard miles away, but he was completely silent on this particular day.

"Hey…" Sai looked up. Her concerned eyes met his. "Why didn't we just take this route?" He regarded her as if considering whether or not her concern was worth caring about, but seemingly decided acting like he cared was good for now. He leaned over in her direction to look at the indicated route where her finger was pointing.

She continued, "If we'd taken this route, we might've been able to go directly around the rain." He nodded. "And we might've even been directly out of its path by now, heading due west towards the Wind Country." She looked at him again. "It would've been a straight shot from there."

Sai stared at the map like it was his first time looking at it, and she absently wondered if it was. She could've expected something like that from him, anyway.

At length, he replied, "You're right."

A scowl immediately marred her attempt at sympathy, her patience ticking away along with their precious time. "May I ask why we didn't go this way, then?"

"Yes."

"… Why didn't we go this way, Sai-kun?"

The young artist flipped the page of his Bingo Book and allowed his eyes to travel back to the text where they stayed, transfixed. "If we'd gone that way, we would've gone around Rain Country and into marshland."

Sakura hurriedly looked back towards the map, scanning the area around her finger carefully. Dejectedly, the girl realized he was right.

"Besides that," he pressed. "I wouldn't have been able to enjoy the rain."

"… What?"

"I said I wouldn't be able to enjoy the rain." Interestingly enough, Sai looked her in the eyes again, surprised. "You don't like the rain, Sakura-san?"

That question shocked her momentarily, and she stopped herself when she realized she'd almost found herself answering his question. She instead tried to focus on the more important task at hand, "Hey… It's great and all that you're trying to enjoy the rain, but… You do realize we're in the middle of a mission right now… right?"

"Is now a bad time?"

Sakura, suddenly feeling helpless, pulled back slightly and relaxed her shoulders with another sigh. Could he really not tell the difference? "The mission isn't an urgent one anyway, right? Surely we can spare an hour of downtime."

"Sai—"

"The rain is calming. It's better to be calm during missions than not. Wouldn't you agree?"

She paused while trying to search for the right words, somehow feeling that she needed overly simplified speech to get the message through to him.

Before she could manage, he cut her off, "Do you not enjoy the rain, Sakura-san?"

"Well… Yes… Actually, I do." She could've mentally kicked herself.

"Then why don't you take the time to enjoy it right now? Konoha's summers are hot and humid, and Suna's summers are hot and dry. I thought it would be nice to travel through the Rain Country for once and enjoy the cool temperature and the rain."

"… Why do you like the rain so much?"

He grinned at that, his eyes facing the corner of a page as he ran a finger across it. "It's calming. And it helps me create."

"Create?" She blinked.

"Yeah, I can't draw or paint properly without the rain. It helps me."

"Really? That's amazing… What kind of things could you paint?"

With the agility and dexterity of a true artist, Sai reached inside his knapsack lying next to him and pulled out a small sketchbook. He handed it to her, and she readily received it without a second thought, immediately taking to thumbing through the various assortments of pictures. Inside, nearly every medium she could name appeared before her. She saw chalk, pastel, watercolor, ink… everything. And nearly every thing had become subject to the calm flick of his wrist as he drew them. The works she noticed most appeared to be still-lifes and abstract.

"These are amazing… And the rain inspired all of them?"

"Yes."

"Wow…"

He leaned a little more on his hand and leered at her amusedly. "And what does Sakura-san do?" Not expecting the question, she stared at that suggestive gaze for a moment before she replied, "Nothing really… When I'm not training or doing missions, I'm not doing much. When it rains and I can't go anywhere, I usually sit inside and study or go over new ninjutsu scrolls." Almost embarrassed by her none-too-interesting lifestyle, Sakura turned to gaze out the window to the approaching rainclouds. She frowned, realizing that she always felt the rain was a nuisance. It hindered her from going anywhere and forced her to pass the time, counting the time second by second until it stopped.

"So you don't like the rain, then."

"No. I guess I don't."

"Hm…" He switched sides, instead leaning on his other hand. "That's too bad."

She chose to look at him again, this time finding his unblinking stare a little too blatant. For some reason, it embarrassed her and made her tighten her hands in her lap. "What's so great about the rain anyway? It keeps you locked up inside until it's over, and it makes people rush to get things done beforehand. It messes up schedules and makes missions a living Hell." She motioned outside to illustrate her point as the first few drops of rainfall pelted the earth.

Sai titled his head expectantly at her. "You really feel that way?" She nodded. He was silent for a good while, contemplating her comment, before seeming to come to a conclusion. "The rain doesn't keep you in. It keeps other people out of the way."

"What do you mean?"

"When everyone's inside because of the rain, they leave the world bare and unblemished by their presence. It's easier to paint and draw something when it's perfectly still and there's no one in the way, no noise and needless action to distract you. The rain frees you."

Sakura's hands folded neatly in her lap as she thought over what she had been told. She tried to see the imagery herself of a world barren of people, everything clear and calm. After a moment, she was able to get something of an idea, but was also able to realize just how much she'd never paid attention to the outdoors during the rain. She was always inside instead, always walking past or facing away from her window, maybe glancing every now and then to see if it was letting up any. But no, she had never seen it the way Sai seemed to, and the concept itself of being freed by the rain was very foreign and unfeasible to her.

"Then what do you do when the rain lets up?"

In absent thought, he flicked a finger over the edge of the Bingo Book as his eyes found the window and mulled over a possible answer. Once satisfied, he turned back to her and replied, "I leave."

"Leave? Leave where?"

"Wherever I need to be."

Her brow furrowed as she leaned in incredulously. "You never went outside to play as a child? Wasn't that something to do when it wasn't raining?"

He shook his head. "No."

She was dumbfounded. Every child went outside to play; Sai couldn't be that weird. Well, then again… She looked him over, noting his unusual pallor, and decided to leave that thought alone.

"Then… you always waited for it to rain?"

"I always wanted it to rain, yes. I never waited for it."

"Huh… That's the first I've heard of that." In thoughtless abandon, the window once again claimed her curiosity as she studied the raindrops with renewed interest. She watched the way each drop fell side by side in sheets and uneven rows; the way you could see yards away and still find the individual splashes on tree branches and rocks; and the sound… She could hear the sound of them on the roof of their small hut like a thousand tiny feet scurrying overhead.

Sai instead watched her, noticing the way she looked around and the subtle way she perked her ears to sharpen her hearing. He sometimes noticed her doing that whenever they were on missions and a twig snapped in the distance. Her body froze, her breathing stilled and her senses heightened. Such actions were usually always of fear and apprehension, just the way Sakura's personality shaped her. She of course would never have thought of using such defenses to hear or observe the calming sounds of the rain. He grinned at seeing her in such a state.

Kakashi's voice abruptly cut into the silence as he reemerged from the next room, "We're going through it. If we want to get back to Konoha before the next rainfall, we need to head out now." At his back, they could already see he'd gathered his things and organized his repertoire. The two uttered an affirmative before quickly beginning to gather theirs as well. Sai took his Bingo Book back to his knapsack to unzip the main compartment and place it there. In his wake, Sakura knelt and retrieved the map to roll back up and hand to him. Checking the location one last time, she looked over the two routes that had been pointed out during the day and considered Sai's claims of passing through the marshland. Awestruck, she scanned over the contents once more before realizing he was right.

As she lowered the map and found his back to her, she regarded him with interest. Even in being right, he had also given her that other reason…

"Thank you," he said as he plucked the map from her fingers and rolled it up. He also let that find its place in his knapsack.

"Ah… No problem."

In hearing Naruto's sleeping form shift into a more comfortable position, she eased her way into his corner before gently urging him to wake. "Naruto… Naruto, wake up. It's time to go." Snapping an eye open, the fox boy rubbed groggily at his eye to rid it of sleep. "Wha—Sakura-chan? We're leaving? Now? But it's still raining…"

"Kakashi-sensei says we're going through it this time. He doesn't want to prolong the mission anymore than it already is."

Naruto groaned and reluctantly shouldered his bag in preparation to go. After putting on emergency rain coats and pulling the hoods over their heads, the two followed Kakashi and Sai out.

"Man… I was really hopin' to get some sleep too…"

She smiled apologetically and laughed. "Don't worry. After all," Her eyes moved ahead and found the black-haired trailblazer of the group. Sakura couldn't help but smile at the thought as she listened carefully to the sound of rain around them. "The rain really isn't so bad."