This is a SaiIno fanfic inspired by a drawing I found on deviantart. It was meant to be a one-shot but it ended three chapters instead, which I have completed writing.
Enjoy. No flames please, don't like the pairing then don't read it.
All characters in this fanfic belong to Kishimoto, Masashi.
The Girl in the Library
It throbbed, it throbbed so painfully. He held his cheek as he walked down the passage; the voice of a pink haired female threatening to hit him again echoed in the empty passage. The thin pale boy walked in a hurried fashion in fear of another stinging slap. He stopped in his haste when he could no longer hear the voice of his pink haired class mate. His legs gave way to the burning sensation blazing through them and he sat on the cold floor. 'I don't get it, she called Naruto a baka (idiot) and he was okay with it, but when I gave her a nickname based on her traits…her reaction was quite surprising and very unexpected.'
"Hey you okay there?" a voice asked
Sai lifted his head to face a boy whose ponytailed hair shot upwards and resembled a pineapple. "Hello….pine-" Sai feared another blow to his face so he didn't finish what he intended to say.
"If your cheek is this red then I'm guessing you said something to Sakura and she hit you, right?" the pineapple haired boy answered.
"This nickname thing is so difficult. I tried to give her a nickname based on her traits and she got mad and hit me" Sai gave closure to his cheek again.
The pineapple haired boy sat in front of Sai "What did you call her?"
Sai looked around to check if the coast was clear "I called her…ugly"
The pineapple boy in front of Sai looked at him in complete shock "You're troublesome. Girls are different from us guys, you have to be cautious when you tell them something about their body"
'…cautious?' Sai thought. He stretched into his grey bag and pulled out a pale lilac coloured book.
"So you've been getting reading a book this kinda stuff I see, it must be troublesome" the pineapple haired boy read the label on the book.
Sai gave a small nod "But it's useless, it didn't help at all"
The pineapple hair boy laughed "Sai, not everythi-"
The pineapple haired boy stopped talking when he heard a two familiar loud voices "Oh what do you know, Sakura and Ino are coming this way, this is your chance to apologi-" when the pineapple haired boy looked to where Sai was sitting he had completely vanished
"Staring at the wall isn't going to help you figure how to promote the chess club Shikamaru" A female voice said before smacking him out of his daze
"Ino! Watch where you swinging that book!" Shikamaru protested rubbing the back of his head vigorously. "For your information I was taking to the new guy, Sai"
Sakura's face immediately boiled red from anger "Where is the rude piece of shit?"
Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders. The girl grabbed Shikamaru's shirt.
She gripped Shikamru shirt and pulled him forward closer to her face "If you're trying to protect him-"
Shikamaru could feel her hot steamed breath brush against his face "Hey, hey. I was talking to him and then he just vanished"
"And you let him go?" a shocked Ino asked "You let that Sasuke cute look-a-like go? How could you Shikamaru?"
Sakura glared at her female friend "How could you defend him? That thing called me ugly"
"He did?...I love him even more now." Ino replied
"Excuse me?" Sakura said
"Well, it's about time someone else told you what you truly look like." Ino answered
"Now listen here Ino-pig, I've told many times before that Sai is completely clueless and has no disregard for anyone's emotions." Sakura explained
"I'm in complete agreement with that statement, the guy is troublesome" Shikamaru backed up Sakura
"So now you're siding with this big-fore headed beast here?" Ino asked Shikamaru in an interrogating manner.
Shikamaru raised his hands in defence "It's true Ino. The guy has seems to have no emotions what so ever and he'll never harvest any. Abandon all hope Ino, find yourself another guy to drool over, and save yourself from heartache"
"You guys are completely blind, the guy is a complete genius you guys have seen his great potential" Ino said in Sai's defence. Ino looked at Sakura "And besides, Sasuke is not coming back. I'm not going to be like Sakura and hold onto false hope, Sasuke made his choice and the fact that we haven't seen him in the last two years proves it…He isn't coming back."
Sakura dropped her head and let go of Shikamaru's shirt "Sasuke is coming back, he'll come back and Naruto and I will make sure he does"
Ino felt bad seeing Sakura's sad face "Well there's always Naruto and you seem to be clinging to him so much now that he has come back"
Shikamaru could feel another argument coming so he pulled Sakura away before she could say anything to Ino.
Meanwhile Sai stood at the end of the passage 'They think I'm not capable of anything?' Sai rested his hand on his chest 'What is this pain?...why does it hurt so…are friends meant to say things that hurt this much?' The sound of footsteps lured him out of his confused thoughts and he rushed back towards the place where he'd gotten the guide book from.
In the library
Ino sighed as she walked into the library, it was empty as usual. The peace and quiet of the library cleared her mind and made it easier for her to study Biology, Science and her favourite things flowers. She walked into the medical section and picked out a few books, and placed them on the nearest table. She checked her study list and realised that she had forgotten a few more books. She let out a frustrated moan went and to search for the book; she pulled it out and walked back to the table. She placed the book at the top of the pile and glanced at the window. 'My spot is not occupied today' Ino thought happily. She picked up the pile of books and headed straight for her usual spot which was next to the window. The pile of books was heavy and she could barely see where she was headed.
The books fell onto the ground when she realised she'd bumped into someone "arg"
She lifted her head to see who had caused her to drop her books.
"Oh Hi" she said blushing
The boy that stood in front of her looked at her with a blank expression on his face "Hi"
Ino searched his face "Are you okay?"
Sai was surprised by the question "Umm, yes"
"Oh okay, it just seemed like you were troubled by-" before Ino could say anything Sai had walked away. She watched him walking slowly, his left hand clenched in a tight fist as though he were angry or upset 'For some who is deemed emotionless he seems to have something…I wonder what's bothering him so much'
Sai sat down and pulled out a pencil and paper; to his left side stood a stack of self-help books waiting to be viewed. He played with the pencil in his hand and stared at the blank sheet in front of him 'I don't understand. Why do I feel like this?....am I supposed to feel like this? ' he hit his fist on to the table. A few people turned their heads and stared at him for a second then got back to their business. Sai's eyes never left the blank sheet before him and for a long while his mind remained occupied by thoughts of what he felt. What he felt was so new to him that understanding it was challenging and frustrating but most of all, hurt. He lay the pencil on the blank sheet of paper before him and looked up, his eyes fell onto the girl he had seen earlier. 'She asked me if I was all right' he thought 'did my face show an emotion for her to notice that?'
Sai glanced at the books next to her 'The Wonder that is Flowers? Why is studying about flowers?'
The next few days felt no different for Sai; Sakura glared at him endlessly and Naruto laughed at him. His concentration in class had become non-existent and everyday he was sent out or shouted at for not listening or bothering to complete his homework.
It was after school and he was back in the library again. He sat down with one book by his side and the usual blank sheet of paper in front of him. He took a glance towards the window and saw the girl from before sitting in her regular place looking out the window. The image of her being lost sparked him to pick up his pencil and fill the blank page with an image of her. The pencil softly glided on the paper leaving a trail of gray on it, slowly painting an image of a female glancing out the window. Sai didn't realise it but the more he drew the more he felt at ease and the more his blank face became gave the impression of happy. He lifted his head to verify his illustration 'The Wonder that is Flowers. She reads that book a lot but, why flowers?'
Sai's thoughts were interrupted by a voice he knew all too well.
"Ino" the pink haired girl shouted as she ran past Sai
'Oh no Sakura!' Sai sunk into his seat and grabbed a book to cover his face from view.
"Don't be so loud this is a library you idiot" Ino whispered
Sakura shook her head "Never mind that, you have to see this"
"Who did Naruto hit this time?" Ino guessed
Sakura corrected Ino's guess "No, it's Sasuke. He is on the news"
Ino stood up "They found him?"
"Not only that, its reported that he killed Orochimaru and released the people Orochimaru had been experimenting on. They are calling him a hero" Sakura informed Ino
"Sasuke helped someone else? No-way that's not like him, Sasuke thinks about Sasuke and nobody else" Ino commented
Sakura pulled Ino "Come on we have to go see the rest of this"
Ino was unable to break free from Sakura's grip and followed her anyway.
After they disappeared Sai sat in his seat stunned at the news 'Orochimaru is dead?' He placed the book he has used from cover on the table and his eyes fell onto the spot Ino was sitting in, the book about flowers had been left open. Sai stood up and walked over to the seat which Ino had sat in, he stood over the book and looked at the flower that was on the page 'Sunflower?' Curious to know what may have attracted Ino to that particular flower, Sai began to read further "The Beautiful Sunflower, The most common type grows from 1 to 3 centimetres in height and has one or more beads of flowers. Each head consists of a disk of small, tubular flowers surrounded by a fringe of large yellow petals. A sunflower head may measure more than 30 centimetres in diameter and produce up to 1 000 seeds. The head turns and faces toward the sun throughout the day." Sai analysed it for a few minutes more "I don't understand it, its yellow and tall and big and that's it. What's so fascinating abot it?' he questioned 'I'd better go and inform Danzo that Sasuke has eliminated Orochimaru and before Sakura returns with that girl' Sai walked back to his table and cleared it of his books and placed them back in the shelves. He returned to his desk and saw the picture he had drawn of the girl who had been staring out the window 'Sakura once questioned why my drawings never had titles. But today I have one and I'm calling it The Girl in the Library'
Sunflower extract taken from The World Book Encyclopedia.
I hope you enjoyed that. I will be updating the next chapter next week.
I love reviews so don't be shy, flames however will not be entertained and will be used to warm me up this winter.