A/N: I have no clue where this truly came from... it's kind of jumbled and everything, but I think it works. I wrote this as a little thirty-minute practice write… so um…. Enjoy?
I disclaim from ownership.
In that one moment, Sai understood. In that one, singular moment, everything had been cleared up, the pathways had been unblocked; his mind had been set free.
He didn't understand the feeling to be quite honest, but he knew this feeling... He remembered it... from so long ago... long ago...when he and his "brother" had shared a dream...
Most of the memories were fuzzy, just a small, blurry blink here, and a long gaping moment there. It confused him, all of those fuzzy, flurrying thoughts, moments, memories, but one stood out amongst them all.
It was only days before his brother had fallen ill and died. He was young, so very young, and was highly impressionable. He had seen the Hokage in his robes, walking elegantly through town, casting a speculative eye on the villagers, and immediately wanted to be like him.
His brother had laughed at him then and said, "You don't want to be like him Sai. He'll always be alone in his category. There are no equals. Plus... then we won't be able to fight together like we always wanted to, will we?"
Sai had nodded his head in understanding though he was beyond confused. Why was the Hokage alone? He never SEEMED alone. There were ALWAYS people around him. How did that make him alone?
As if knowing Sai's question, his brother had chuckled and whispered, "Just because he's surrounded by people doesn't mean that he's not alone. Besides, I didn't mean it like that anyways. I meant that he's alone in his class. He will never have an equal from this village. He's our leader."
Sai had looked up at him curiously.
"What about... cun-pen-yun-ship?"
"Companionship Sai, and... everyone has companionship. There's always someone out there willing to be your friend. You just have to be willing to accept that friend."
Sai had furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes into little squints while he thought.
"Brother..." he finally said, "are... we friends? Do we have cun-pen-yun-ship with each other?"
"Yes we do little brother. One day that companionship is going to lead us into being the top TWO ninjas of Konoha right?"
"Right!"
At that a spark of something, inspiration... had come into his thoughts...
The last picture of his little book. He knew what it was. It was there. It was tangible. He was going to grab it.
If only he could get to his sketchbook... he wouldn't be able to get it until tomorrow.
However, tomorrow had never come, because his brother had fallen ill, later dying, and preventing Sai from finishing that little drawing that had meant so much.
But now... it was back. The inspiration that had once flowed through him was there, humming in his blood. He took out the little sketchbook and a pencil and drew line after line, curve after curve, until the picture was finished and finally...
He understood.
Wakarimashita
A/N: Uhhh... review? This was done a few months ago. I just retrieved it from all my back-up files that were on my virus inflicted spare hard drive. (Which is now free of viruses! yay!) I don't post in the Naruto fandom much… but well... here's another one.
Oh yes…wakarimashita is just a reiteration of the last line. It means '(I) understood'
By the way, has anyone gotten to the point in the manga where Kakashi is having Naruto create his own technique? I personally think the chapters are getting kind of silly… but it is cool to see the other tailed beasts. (We've gotten a look at Shukaku who is the one-tailed badger, Nekomata the two-tailed cat, and the three-tailed shark-thingymabobber) Heh. Well til next time.
Jaa ne!
Mizuki Kurenaida