Disclaimer: I wish I own Naruto so Sai and Sakura would end up together and Sasuke would die. But since that's not the case, I don't own Naruto. **cries in emo corner**
Nightly Wonderings
She liked watching him sleep. She liked the way his dark, ebony locks fell over his pale features; some strands would stick up in places, which she found adorable on the stoic, ex-root shinobi. When he was awake, it was difficult to get an emotion out of him because he was clueless and naïve. But in sleep, his guard was down. Sakura often looked forward to these moments. And now, she could watch him as much as she wanted.
Tentatively, she raised a hand and brushed aside a strand of hair from his face. Sai's unconscious form moaned softly before taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. A pleasant shiver coursed through Sakura's body as she felt his lips upon her skin. Whoever thought that she'd be in this situation right now with this man.
"I want you to go one a date with me."
Sakura blinked, believing her ears to have deceived her. "Excuse me? What?"
Sai fake-smiled at her. "A date. I want you to go on a date with me."
The pinkette burst out laughing. "Haha, Sai. Really funny."
He frowned as she made fun of him. "I'm serious, hag."
She stopped laughing, now more confused than ever. She gazed at the emotionless bastard suspiciously. "Do you realize what you're asking me? Do you even know what a date is?"
He nodded. "Yes. The dickless wonder told me that if I like someone, I should ask her on a date. So I'm asking you."
"You do know that what Naruto meant by liking someone, is that you like like them. Right?"
He nodded again. "I believe I have grasped the concept of like liking someone. It's when you can't stop thinking about this person at every minute of the day. It's when no matter how much her punches hurt, you still look forward to them because it's the only way you can get her attention. It's when you feel angry and sad at the same time whenever she pines for someone who can never like her back. It's when no matter how ugly I say she is, deep inside, I know she's beautiful."
Sakura's face burned from both embarrassment and flattery. She had never heard him talk like this before. Although she had always found the ex-root member attractive, she always told herself that she only thought that because of his similarity to Sasuke and nothing else. Unlike Sasuke, Sai was a weird individual, socially inept with that creepy fake smile of his. He always insulted her, accidentally and purposely. But in a way, Sakura could honestly admit to herself that maybe she found Sai attractive because he was different from Sasuke. Unlike Sasuke, Sai attempted to form bonds rather than sever them. Unlike Sasuke, Sai tried to bring out his emotions instead of burying them. And unlike Sasuke, Sai never made an attempt to leave her.
Sai grinned at her. "I'll pick you up at seven tonight."
Without waiting to hear her protest, he turned and walked away, whistling. Whistling! Sai was whistling.
The pinkette smiled at a slumbering Sai. Her Sai. Lowering her lips to his ear, she whispered, "I love you."
Carefully, she untangled herself from his hold, gathered the top blanket around herself, and got out of bed. Sai moaned in protest but did not wake up. Sakura gigged softly to herself as she padded barefoot over to the window, clutching the blanket to her nude body. She looked out into the clear night sky; the moon was full tonight, so bright and beautiful. Sakura was suddenly hit with nostalgia and she smiled.
"Itai!"
"Stay still!"
"You're a medic, woman! Be gentle!"
"I am gentle! You keep squirming! So shut up and stay still!"
Sai obeyed and clamped his mouth shut, not wishing to anger her any further, no matter how cute he found it. He leaned back into the tree, his face an emotionless mask. He watched as Sakura finished bandaging his broken knee and tied it, securely.
"There," she said, patting his knee lightly. He winced. "That wasn't so bad now was it? You know, for someone who says he doesn't have any emotions, you can be quite emotional whenever I'm treating you."
He scowled before smiling in gratitude. "Arigatou."
Her heart melted and she couldn't help but smile back. "You're welcome." She looked around. "We got separated from Naruto and Kakashi-sensei."
"Oh really? I didn't notice."
Frowning, she slapped his knee again, which earned her another wince and a quiet curse from him. "I can't feel either of their chakra and it's really dark now. We should just stay here and hope that they find us tomorrow. With that knee of yours, we won't be able to go anywhere."
"Why can't you just heal it?"
"I'm all out of chakra right now after that battle. I need to get it back. With some sleep, I might be able to fix your knee in the morning. But right now," she plopped down against the tree next to him. "I just want to rest."
And with that, she laid her head on his shoulder. Sai, on instinct, wrapped an arm around her shoulder and brought her closer to him. Sakura sighed at the warmth brought about by the proximity. She took in his fresh paper and ink scent, the scent that was only Sai.
Ever since they started dating over a year ago, she had never felt such peace. Sure, they fought and bickered over the most trivial matters, but that was a norm for them. No matter how angry they were at each other, they always managed to stay together. In fact, they were the most unusual couple that Konoha had ever seen. They weren't sweet towards each other nor were they clingy. The only indication that they were a couple is that they lived together and held hands whenever they walked through the village on their day-offs. But other than that, Sai and Sakura did not act like a couple. Sai would often accidentally insult Sakura and she would punch the living daylights out of him. When they argued in public, they fought like a cat and dog. No one had ever seen them kiss either and they were always brutal to each other whenever they sparred. They were a most unusual couple indeed. But what they didn't know was that behind closed doors, Sai and Sakura were very, very affectionate.
If only they knew, Sakura thought, giggling. Sai stared down at her in puzzlement. She smiled but didn't say anything.
A few minutes later, Sai's low voice broke the steady silence of the night. "The moon is beautiful tonight," he said, rubbing gentle circles on her freezing shoulder.
Appreciating the warmth he was giving her, Sakura snuggled closer to him. "Hai, it is."
"How long have we been together?" he continued, his free hand straying to her knee and warming them as well.
"Hmm… A year. More than, actually."
"I see."
A few moments of silence took over again. Tired and weary, Sakura closed her eyes. Sai continued to warm her up. He was oblivious to his own freezing body. What mattered was making sure that his Sakura wouldn't catch a cold.
Sai smiled at the thought. His. She was his. And he was hers. It was as simple as that.
Then suddenly, out of nowhere, his voice came out loud and clear. "I love you."
Sakura's eyes popped open as she felt her heart stop. She felt warmer now, and it wasn't because Sai was still rubbing her shoulders and knees with his hands. For the longest of moments, she didn't answer.
Sai didn't press her for an answer. He already said what he needed to say. It was up to her if she loved him back or not.
"You're an idiot," she stated.
He tilted his head to the side. "Oh? How so?"
Sakura looked him square in the eye. "Do you even know what love is?"
Smiling pleasantly, he nodded. "I know for a fact that love is when you're always happy whenever you're with this person. It's when no matter how much you fight with her, you never want to leave. It's when you look at her, you see only the most beautiful creature in the world. It's whenever you draw or paint something, you think of her. It's when you two are on a mission to retrieve important scrolls, your team gets ambushed and you break your knee in the process of protecting her, because you don't want any man to touch her in a way that hurts her."Smiling, Sai leaned his forehead over hers. "Love is this, Sakura. You. Me. Here, like this."
With that last statement, Sai pulled away and leaned back on the tree. At first, all Sakura could do was stare at him, her mouth agape. Finally, she allowed a smile to graze her lips and she leaned in to his touch again.
"I love you too, Sai," she said, closing her eyes.
She felt his lips touch her temple and nothing more was said that night.
Sakura felt warm arms wrap around her waist and she leaned back on Sai's warm chest. His head rested on her shoulder.
"Why are you still up?" he drawled, huskily into her ear.
She giggled. "I'm not very tired." She turned around in his arms and pecked him on the lips. "But you were quite worn out, anata."
"That I was, koishii," he replied.
And without warning, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her back to bed. He laid the giggling pinkette on top of the covers and hovered above her. For a moment, they simply gazed into each other's face. Sai took one of her hands and brought it to his lips. Without breaking eye-contact, he kissed the silver band around her ring finger.
Sakura arrived at Team Kakashi's training field. To her surprise, only her boyfriend was present. Their enthusiastic blonde teammate and pervy team leader were nowhere to be seen.
"Hey, Sai. Where are the others? I thought we were training today."
"Oh, Naruto didn't tell you? Kakashi-senpai decided to cancel because of an emergency."
"What emergency?"
"Hmm? Something about a special edition of Icha-Icha Paradise Volume VII, I believe."
Sakura cursed their sensei before sighing. "So, I guess it's just you and me training today then."
But Sai shook his head. "I was actually thinking of catching up on my sketching today. I haven't done so in a while." He settled himself on the grass and patted the space in front of him. "May I draw you?"
The pinkette blushed. She had posed for his sketches and paintings so many times. But for some reason, she still felt overwhelmed that he saw her worthy enough to be a model.
Nodding her head in consent, she settled herself in front of him. Sai reached out and tilted her body a little bit to the side. He took a few strands of her pink hair and arranged them over her right ear and tucked some behind her left ear. He then took her hands and placed them on her lap, left over right. He placed his fingers underneath her chin and turned her head a little bit to the side. Satisfied, he sat back and just looked at her for a few minutes. Then, he took out his sketch pad and some coal and began to sketch her.
As he did so, Sakura watched him. She always watched him when he worked. No one ever realizes the amount of concentration it took Sai to sketch or paint anything. His brow would furrow a little, his lips would twist to the side, and his eyes would hold only one emotion: contentment. It was very rare to see him like this. Only Sakura had the privilege of seeing him like his. Her eyes drank him in; his raven locks, deep dark eyes, strong calloused hands, and pale skin.
Several years ago, if you told her that she'd fall for someone other than Sasuke, she would have scoffed at you, insisting that it would never happen, that she was loyal to her Sasuke-kun. Yet, here she was, deeply in love with someone who was like Sasuke, yet so much different from him. She loved Sai. She really did. She used to doubt her love for him, even felt guilty that he was just a rebound. But in no time, she discovered that he was not a rebound. Because the next time she saw Sasuke, the last time that he broke her heart and Naruto's, she no longer felt any sort of love towards him. She loved Sai. She loved him with every fiber of her being. She loved his naiveté, his bluntness. She loved his gentleness, his dry humor. She loved everything about him. She really loved him.
"Sakura-chan?"
The pinkette blinked out of her reverie. The object of her thoughts was looking at her, his head tilted to the side in curiosity.
"Hmm? Do you want me to change positions?" she asked.
He shook his head in reply. "No, I'm done." Now, she noticed that he had placed his charcoal aside. He smiled at her. "Would you like to see?"
She nodded and held her hand out. Whenever she looked at Sai's drawings, she didn't just look at it and say, "Wow, it's good." No, she really examined it, looked at every minuscule detail. Sai often told her that she had an artist's eye. But since Sakura could barely draw a tree without it looking retarded, she would dismiss his claims.
She scanned the sketch, marveling at her boyfriend's natural talent. It was beautiful, as always. He didn't make her image overly gorgeous or anything. He just sketched what she saw; every stray hair, every throbbing pulse, was that dirt on her cheek? Smiling, Sakura was about to return the sketch when something caught her eye. Once again, she scrutinized her image, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Sai?"
"Hmm? Is it to your liking?"
"Why is there a ring on my finger? I'm not wearing a ring."
His smile widened. "Ahh… You noticed. You see Sakura-chan, I had a thought."
She raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"
He continued to smile. "That I want to be with you forever."
At his answer, she blushed. "Oh… Well… Ano… I want to be with you forever too, Sai."
She wasn't lying. She really did want to be with him. It was no doubt that Sai was the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. The only one.
"Does this mean your answer is 'yes'?"
For a moment, Sakura just blinked, not comprehending. He continued to smile. And then, it dawned on her and her emerald-green eyes widened.
"S-Sai… D-Did you just…? I-I mean… A-Are you…?" She couldn't get the rest of her words out.
She watched as he reached into his pocket and took out a ring… the same ring he had drawn on his sketch… the simple, silver-banded, diamond-encrusted engagement ring.
"Well?" he asked, handing it to her, casually. "Do you want to be my wife?"
Sakura bit her lip, feeling the cliché tears filling her eyes. But she blinked them away. As Sai smiled at her, she knew. She knew her answer. Tentatively, she slipped the ring into her finger.
"Yes," she simply replied.
Sai's arm was around her waist in an instant, his nose buried in her bubble-gum pink hair. Her own arms circled around him, her face buried in his chest as she finally gave in to the tears. She was happy! She was so happy!
When they pulled away, Sai wiped the tears away, chuckling at her before planting a kiss on her lips.
"Now, why don't we go to Ichiraku's for lunch?" he said, gazing into her eyes lovingly. "With Ayame-san's uncontrolled gossiping, the news will be all over the village by tomorrow."
Sakura smacked him in the arm before giggling. "You and your devious mind." She linked her hands with his. "Let's go get lunch."
Sai lay next to his wife, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. The pinkette reveled at the warmth and breathed in his intoxicating scent. She raised her head to meet his eyes.
"Thank you for marrying me," Sai said, stroking her cheek.
Smiling, she pecked him on the lips once, twice, three times. "Thank you for loving me."
This is what happens when you're so stressed during your first semester of college. Honestly, I barely have time to enjoy my life anymore. But one day, while attempting to study for my psychology midterm, I found a random drabble I wrote while an annoying guy in my News Literacy class was prattling off. I decided to just type it and save it on my thumb drive for later use but guess what? I kept typing and typing and typing until I got half of this and I was like, "That felt good!" So I decided that I want to officially turn this into my first come-back fic (as my good friend yuugiri called it). I really hope you guys enjoyed it. I wrote this to relieve stress and I hope it was enough to satisfy you after "The Color Pink" (for those of you who read it, that is… by the way, I told my roommate about it and she believed that Yume should have died, just sayin'… LOL!) Please review!