Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, the maker of my fangirling source is Kishimoto-sama.

A/N: Once upon a time, there was a girl nicknamed ZJeM whose sister (MxMSupporter) was a mad fangirl of My Chemical Romance. One time, ZJeM decided to make her sister happy and get her a MCR poster. The girls had a friend, nicknamed M, who just happened to have one. ZJeM offered to pay her in fanfiction and thus, after two unsuccessful attempts, this series of shorties fueled by M.'s prompts was born. The shorties can be divided into three categories: "X" meaning "Sai", "Y" meaning "Saino" and "Z" meaning "Sai x Reader". And so, I invite you all to enjoy my so-called writing skills. THANK YOU, M!

Sketchbook

CHAPTER 1

"Are these people you, Asuma-sensei, Shikamaru-san and Chõji-san?" Sai asked, taking an old photo of Team 10 and lifting it to his eyes. Ino pushed the last piece of clothes into the closet and closed it's door with a visible difficulty, her cheeks covering in a faint blush. She'd never expected him to stop by so suddenly, and so, her room was in it's usual state - a huge mess. She sighed with relief and turned to him.

"You were saying..? Oh, that thing" her gaze softened. She almost danced to where he stood and took the photo out of his hands. Her heart skipped a beat when their fingers brushed by accident. Lowering her eyes, she couldn't see a pallid redness creeping onto his face.

"W-when was it taken..?" Sai rushed to reduce the level of awkwardness that had jumped way too high with that one innocent touch for it to be considered... Well, innocent. Ino pushed the photo back into his hands and walked to the window coming out on the busy street. Giving in to the sun's gentle caress, she tried to calm down her trembling heart.

"When... When we became Team 10, after graduation" she answered, hoping to focus on people passing by on the pavement and not on the black-haired teen standing a few meters behind her. Sai kept silent so, to distract herself from a large variety of inconvenient thoughts, she spoke again "We were so carefree then... With Asuma-sensei looking after us, we believed we could do anything..." She smiled at the memory. "Although Chõji and Shikamaru were already pissing me off!" she laughed.

Laughing meant she was happy, Sai remembered. A strangely stinging thought appeared in his mind, disturbing his calm thoughts. Did his past hold anything to look back to with a smile..?

"Sai-san, is everything..?" she tried to ask, seeing his face change and a tiny little, almost undistinguishable, glow of sadness flare up in his eyes. He looked at her, his orbs empty and lifeless, sending an unpleasant chill down her spine.

"Yes, Ino-san..." he mumbled. "I'm..."

X X X

And after that, he'd been gone, leaving her house in a hurry. "Did I do anything wrong?" she thought, putting a single dandelion into the bouquet and sighing. She'd hoped working would have made her stop thinking about Sai, but it didn't help at all. Even the weather seemed to had adapted to her dropped mood, the sky covering with heavy storm clouds. That afternoon couldn't have got any more screwed, could it?

X

Of course it could.

After she'd finished her chores, she'd decided to visit Sakura at her long shift at the hospital. Not only her friend had been too busy to see her, it had started raining and she was confined to the main hall's chair.

And the worst thing of all?

Sai storming through the main door, drenched to the skin, strands of hair plastered to his forehead and his breathing fast after the run he'd obviously just had.

And, of course, he absolutely had to notice her. He walked slowly to where she sat and carefully took the seat next to her, hopefully not hearing just how loud her heart was thumping. They stayed like that, in awkward silence, herself staring at the floor and his hands clutching a small book.

Then, suddenly, after a few loud ticks of the clock, he spoke. "Ino-san..." his soft voice made her breath hitch. She gulped, trying to calm herself down (like one could really do that on call with his heart).

"Yes, Sai-san..?" she answered quietly, making herself look at him and send him a weak smile. His black eyes shone, the excitement she saw making her confused. She'd never seen him like that before...

"I was thinking..." he stuttered in an adorable way, hurriedly putting the strange book in her hands. "Could this be considered a photo album..?" he mumbled, not returning the look she was giving him, his cheeks covered in a faint blush.

Ino looked with curiosity at what he'd handed to her. It appeared that it wasn't just a book, it was a sketchbook. On the covers, there were drawings of two boys, one of them similar to Sai and the other whom she didn't recognize. She opened the book to be pulled into a story of two young warriors, fighting with many strong opponents, but always winning and taking their enemies' belongings for themselves. She reached the middle to find a picture of the characters standing side by side, holding hands and smiling.

A strange feeling of tenderness filled her whole. She looked up at Sai, who too was glancing at the book as she looked over it. His eyes held affection and a great fondness that made her heart flutter.

"Sai-san..." she spoke softly. "What is this book? Are these your drawings?" she asked, running her fingers over the cover gently. Water dripped from his hair as he nodded slowly.

"Today, when a saw the photo in your room..." he started quietly "It made me think if I have anything like that frame... Something that holds good memories..." He looked her in the eyes and smiled, but that time, she was not embarrassed. She was happy to return the smile, however red her cheeks were, disobeying her mind's orders.

"So this... This boy was important to you, right?" she asked. Sai took the book from her and looked at the boy softly.

"Yes... He was my brother... But, Ino-san..." His eyebrows furrowed when he looked back at her. "Is this like your photo? It's not the truth, it's only my interpretation..." a note of hesitation crept into his voice.

Ino shook her head. "It is a photo, Sai-san" she told him, smiling. "A black photo, but a photo nevertheless" she grinned at him.

And she thought that maybe that special one of his smiles could have been enough to not consider that day bad anymore..?

ZJeM, 04-12.03.14

From author:

Candy floss and blushing - that's what this one is. XD But I like it, it was pleasant to write.

THANKS FOR READING!