Note: Written for my 30 kisses set prompt #1 - Look Over Here

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"Try not to touch anything," Sai said, as he led Sakura in, flicking on the lights. "You can sit over there." The room smelled slightly of old paper and the clove oil that went into polishing weapons along with something dry and chemical like bleach. It wasn't unpleasant, but gave her the sense of a place of work, more than a comfortable home.

She smoothed her skirt as her eyes adjusted and she moved to sit on the edge of the squat, blocky leather chair he directed her to. It was next to a window, which was shuttered at the moment. Sakura licked her lips and watched him take off his jacket and hang it up in the narrow closet by the front door.

This was the first time she'd been so deep into his apartment, which doubled as his studio. It was very tidy, but every surface was in use in some fashion. The table nearby held a neat stack of sketchbooks, a rack with several different sized scrolls, and two brush holders crammed full of brushes, ordered by size and length.

She wondered if he was in the middle of a project, seeing lengths of silk with elaborate, loose calligraphy dancing down them, draping the larger table near his tiny kitchen.

It was odd, too, how a room could be so full of objects and still look somewhat sterile and neutral. None of the pictures he had on his walls were of people or animals like the ones he used in his ink jutsus; only things - stark landscapes, bold still-life drawings, calligraphy. Yet she had asked him to do a portrait.

He could have said no, if he didn't like drawing people. She knew he'd done those pictures of himself with his brother, so maybe it wasn't that.

She watched him set up in silence, choosing his materials with care as he picked through several drawers, and then to a wide, low cabinet lined with horizontal shelves that held the paper he was going to use as a ground for the work.

Sai clipped the large sheet of green-tinged paper he chose to a board, and then carried it over to where she was sitting, dragging a stool behind him. He set the board on top of the stool and went back to get the rest of his materials, including a small tray to rest the wooden box of pastels and a small assortment of pencils on.

He came over to where she was, and opened the window behind her, letting sunlight pour into the room and over them both. The corner of his mouth turned up infinitesimally. This close she caught the acrid scent of ink and sweat and again more faintly, the nose-tingling spice of cloves, from the air as he passed.

"Do you think you can sit still?" he asked, looming over her, examining her face. He touched her cheek, and it wasn't the first time that she was surprised that his fingers weren't cold.

"I don't know, I've never done something like this. How long does it take?" She was already feeling skittish and wanted to squirm.

He scratched his chin, a gesture she suspected he'd picked up from Kakashi. "Hmm. Maybe an hour. Maybe less. I'm fast, but I don't usually do color."

She nodded, thinking that it couldn't be too difficult. As long as he didn't say anything obnoxious. It was a good thing she didn't have to hold her breath. "I can do it. How do you want me to sit?"

"Here, turn your body like this." He put his hands on her shoulders gently guiding her. "Cross your legs at the ankle, and lean back on your hands. Now look over here, and pick a spot to stare at." She knew he meant over his shoulder, but his face was so close, really she was looking at his mouth, and remembering how soft his lips could be.

"Okay." She was going to be staring at a blank portion of the wood paneling, which had a small knot right in the middle. Sakura was glad she couldn't see a clock.

"Good. Now don't move. With the way the light's hitting you, I may be able to fool the viewer into thinking that you're not a hag."

Blood rushed into her face, eyes snapping wide, her body tensing, as her short nails dug into the leather of her seat. Watching Sai's back, she struggled not to shift or give in to the temptation to rip his spine out through his throat.

Sakura tried to calm herself, as he propped his drawing board up, bracing it against his thighs. His expression was almost blank, but she could see the barest flush to his cheeks, the tiniest curve to his mouth. She was starting to think he got off on provoking her fury.

He picked up a pencil to start laying out the baselines, and licking the point, he leaned over and tapped the other end beneath her chin. "Up a little. So, how are you planning to pay me for this?"

"I won't murder you in your sleep," she growled, but didn't shift from her pose.

Sai gave her a small, delicate smile as he set down the pencil and chose a pastel. "Oh, you're staying the night?"

She hadn't meant for him to take it that way, but - "Do you want me to?"

"If I say yes, will you let me draw you with your shirt off?"

"Ask me again when I see what I'm paying for," she said, though she still intended to take him up on his invitation.