You took your stance next to Kakashi on the water, ready to fight against the Three-Tailed beast as the crashing lake water signaled its close proximity, water droplets cascading down on you.
Fully expecting it to attack you, Kakashi, Shino, and Yamato, you were none the less shocked to see it suddenly disappear.
Sighing, you relaxed and returned to your relaxed position.
You were about to say something when a fish made itself known by scaring the living daylights out of you (and Yamato apparently). However, this was not an ordinary fish.
"One of Sai's," you hear Kakashi say.
This was confirmed when you saw the ink fish transform into kanji, revealing a message written by Sai. Your [eye color]eyes widened considerably upon reading the rather upsetting information.
"It seems Guren's fellow shinobi powered up and attacked Sai," Kakashi muttered, Yamato grunting in surprise.
You were assigned to prevent the enemy from attacking the girls as they performed the sealing barrier jutsu…But you couldn't help yourself from taking off in search of Sai, ignoring Kakashi yelling out to you.
Sai was…well he was very important to you. Dare I say, you had developed special feelings for the young artist, despite his social disposition.
More than that, he was your teammate and you would not stand to leave him alone while he could have been severely injured. What kind of friend would you be if you didn't come to his aid? Kakashi wouldn't mind too much, hopefully.
You quickened your pace, jumping from tree to tree and keeping your ears and eyes open for any signs of Sai. The sooner you found him, the sooner you would be reassured of his safety.
Your [hair color]hair was flying all around as you continued leaping and running through the forested area. You were starting to lose some hope until you came across a small opening in which the ground and surrounding trees appeared to be ruined…by some kind of bomb explosion?
"A fight? Is there where Sai fought those clowns?" you questioned out loud.
You took notice of the distinct path and ruined tree, almost like stream marks, in which an explosive was probably fired.
Thinking that could possibly lead you to the person you were looking for, you decided to head in the direction the streak marks faced.
You ran for only a little while longer until you came to another opening, where you could see a part of the lake. Catching your breath, you made your way over to where the terrain dropped down to the rocky banks of the lake. And bingo. You found exactly who you were looking for.
Letting out a slight gasp, you saw Sai sprawled out along the river bank, slightly clutching his abdomen, wincing in obvious pain. His jet black hair was plastered to his face and off the side. You had never seen him injured before and you rushed right to his side as fast as possible.
"Sai! Sai, are you all right," you worriedly called out to him, gently shaking his shoulder.
When he only grunted in pain, you attempted to see where he sustained his injuries from, but found nothing too severe. You felt completely useless to him…You were no medical ninja. You were an exceptional fighter and ninjutsu user, but had no proper medical training.
The next best thing to do, you decided would be to try and wake him up and move him to a better location as time was of the essence.
Delicately, you brought him into a sitting position, cradling his head and allowing him to lean on you for support.
You weren't aware that he was awake until he spoke up.
"_...Why are you here?" Sai questioned, still holding on to his abdomen and leaning on you.
Jumping slightly, you replied, "Well, we saw your message and I decided to look for you. I didn't know how badly you were hurt."
Sai nodded his head slowly and tried to stand up, but lost his balance. You moved quickly to catch him before he toppled over into you. You blushed a slight pink hue at how close your faces were, before steadying him.
"I was fighting the enemies and got caught in an explosion. I was careless and they managed to take the boy away," Sai said, looking down out of shame.
"Well, I'm more concerned with you right now. How badly are you injured? Can you walk," you asked out of concern.
"I'll be fine. We should get going though so that we can get back to Kakashi-sensei and the others. They are going to need help," Sai said, giving you a fake smile.
You smiled back and nodded your head, starting to walk.
"Oh and _?"
"Mm? Yes, what is it?"
"It's just that I read in a book that when a person goes out of their way to put another friend before themselves, it means that they truly value the relationship they have."
You were about to agree to that but then he continued to say,
"However, it also mentioned that if it were a woman going out of her way for a boy, there's a strong possibility that means she really likes you.
You slightly blushed again, not saying anything. Sai took note of this and smiled.
"Your silence tells me that I must be correct, no?"
You whipped your head towards him and playfully punched him in the shoulder.
"Sai…you can't just ask a girl something that personal," you giggled, trying to play it cool.
He merely rubbed his shoulder and reached for the hand that just assaulted him. Taking your hand in his, he started walking again.
"Then I guess that means I just need to be a closer 'friend', is that right," Sai pondered out loud.
You sighed and smiled to yourself, tightening your grip in his hand slightly.
"_, thank you. It makes me feel…well happy would be the right word. Yes, I am happy that you came to find me. It makes me happy that you do that for me," he said softly, walking with you.
"It's what a friend would do. I'm sorry that I couldn't do more, like heal your wounds. Sakura will be able to patch you right up though," you said.
And this time, when he looked at you, Sai granted you one of his more genuine smiles.
Something you would treasure for the rest of the day.
And as expected, attempting to get to know the boy on a more personal level would have to wait until after the mission was over.