Eyes of an Artist

By crybabies

Summary: Human interaction has its many wonders and quirks, it seemed. Eye contact was no doubt an important factor of communication, yet it was also apparent that maintaining such had the ability to drive others into intense discomfort.

A/N: I don't own Naruto. And honestly, I would rather read fanfiction about Ino and Sai, but I realized just how limited the options were. So I decided to write my own story. This is going to be following cannon as much as possible, because I love stories like that. Eyes of an Artist is my take on what happens between Ino and Sai, while strictly following the timeline of events. (Of the novels, movie, etc.)

ALSO, this is the preface of it all. I just wanted to give somewhat of a look inside Sai's perspective. I apologize if it's a little boring.

ALSO, this takes place two years after the war. So, before Shikamaru Hiden. Which I also do not own.


Preface

Appreciating external surroundings was always the first step to appreciating art.

Actually, in a way, appreciating external surroundings was ultimately appreciating art.

Either way, said general perspective was always necessary to gather inspiration for new pieces. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the details in the first place, but Sai had grown so accustomed to the way the world seemed solely at an objective, physical viewpoint. He wanted to take in his surroundings first hand, as opposed to from memory, and really think about how everything appeared. And expand on that. What could he do to portray his works – often objective and exact – in a different light?

And so he took another look of many at the scenery before him, and began to draw.

From an indifferent perspective, the confliction between the moistened emerald and crisping scarlet of the leaves was a lovely view to behold. The difference in hues of what appeared before him seemed to elegantly complement each other, despite how, well, different they were. The way the leaves shook in unison when a slight zephyr rolled by was rather aesthetically pleasing, in combination with the cooperation of the thick of green that encompassed much of where he stared.

In a way, it could definitely be seen as sad. Gloomy, really. At least that's what he had heard before. He could distinctively remember his peers chatting about the departing summer, about how depressing it was to watch so much of nature's beauty drain itself of life as winter approached. This was a very interesting perspective to Sai, and he ached to encompass every inch of detail with this emotion in mind.

Yet, it was hard for him to make himself experience that sort of thing. It would absolutely be a lie to say that he's never felt sadness before, but at the same time he couldn't really remember how it was like. The experiences were so long ago, so few, that he could not bring himself to replay that sort of feeling no matter how hard he tried.

Or…maybe he was just blocking it out.

'It is what it is,' Sai then thought to himself. Feeling emotion was certainly what made being human so special, but at the same time he didn't really mind that he couldn't feel something that he knew was generally negative. He came to the conclusion that feeling emotions, particularly this emotion, would happen when it happens, whether it be for better or worse.

Well. So much for a new perspective on art.

Right when he was about to give up, he remembered that, clearly, sadness was not the only emotion that a human could feel. Why not try to include something else? Happiness had unexpectedly reared its golden head more often than Sai could ever expect, with that deriving from his gradual acceptance into the original Konoha 12 – well, now 11 – squad, despite only meeting them in his teenage years.

In theory, it would have been easier. But he still had problems continuing his art even from that emotion.

So, he just stared.

He stared and stared through the slight clearing, made visible only from the gap between the two most forefront trees standing a few meters away from him. His eyes continued to stare, pierce through, almost, through the empty space of said clearing, until thick layers of greens and browns and reds met his eyes once again.

At the very least, he could just sit back and appreciate the beauty of the scenery, and leave it at that. Maybe he would come to an epiphany, a solution to his artistic predicament. Or maybe he would just wait until the cerulean hue of the sky shifted toward its indigo state, until golden rays cast its last beam, and then call it a night.

He stared until his eyes burned and couldn't stay open another second, then continued to stare at the imprinted version in his mind.

When he opened his eyes again, he realized something had changed. It wasn't the color of the sky, or the way the light splattered itself through the trees, similarly to the way thrown paint looked like on a wall. No, he hadn't closed his eyes for that long.

In the middle of the clearing was a young woman donned in purple, seemingly melting into the grass without a care in the world.

Even from a distance, Sai could tell that her gaze was concentrated toward the sky with the same amount of intensity he had when he was staring at the clearing a few moments ago. He looked downward, finally readdressing the neglected sketchbook resting next to him, and began to capture the moment before him, along with the peculiar feeling that began to swell up inside him.

'Positivity,' He mused. 'Tranquility?'

Occasionally, Sai would look up to maintain the overall accuracy of the view before him.

Or so he led himself to believe.


A good amount of time would pass each time Sai would look up to recount what he was trying to capture.

Upon casting his fifth or sixth glance, he realized that the scenery had yet again changed. This time the woman was no longer paying attention to the sky, and had propped herself up into a sitting position.

Even from a distance, he could feel her inquisitive eyes piercing into his.

End of chapter 1.


A/N: I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed writing this. When I wrote this I really identified with Sai's artistic struggle, so I found it pretty easy to get the words and ideas flowing in my head. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do! Remember to R&R!