I Do Not Own Naruto
Chapter 7
There was a solace in her life with having Sai here in her ancient family home. Now that she was head of the family it was where she'd live, until the flower shop was rebuilt because she didn't think she could live here. Ino missed the bustling life of the village around her.
It had been two weeks since she had been named as head of the Yamanaka Family, and since the memorial and she found herself to be exhausted emotionally from dealing with all this.
Kurenai had taken Mirai back home; her apartment building had been rebuilt and cleared for former tenants to move back in. Which in turn had made her family's ancestral home feel… empty. It was just nice to know Sai was here as she walked through her home looking for him. She knew he was having difficulty accepting his hand since it was still casted and he didn't know if it was healed. Sakura had tried to reassure him but Ino knew there was no way to cheer him up though.
Ino was trying not to let him fall into despair but it was difficult to keep him perked up when he seemed so… pragmatic. And slightly pessimistic; which was irritating her because Ino was one of those people who tried to look for the bright side in situations. It wasn't working lately, but it was something she was still actively trying to do, despite looking over the clan expenses, the list of her kinsmen lost in the war, and having the Yamanaka elders beating on her door every other day with a new problem or something which would require her immediate attention.
Which was why she looking for Sai now.
Being with Sai… it was like having a moment where everything was still, where everything was at peace, and nothing else existed but her and his calming presence. She couldn't describe what about him made her calm, she couldn't because she had sat up some nights examining everything about him and trying to decipher just what about him; him, the most socially awkward man she had ever met; which calmed her and also turned her; her of all the women in the world; into a bumbling idiot.
And honestly; aside from his nice looks; she had nothing.
But Sai was the person she was seeking out all the same as she drifted through the Yamanaka home seeking him out. He was like a ghost, and if she hadn't been a sensory type she was certain she'd have missed him, but she found him; in her ancestral family home's over run, unruly garden just laying beneath the sun staring up at the tree he was laying beneath.
"Hello Sai," she greeted as she walked over to him, her bare feet tickled by the grass she walked upon when she sat beside him.
He opened an inky black eye at her and then let it drift shut as he smiled slightly at her which had her relaxing.
"Beautiful," he acknowledged.
"Funny, I never lived here, and yet, it feels kind of like it could be home," she said as she stared up at the tree. She didn't want to give up living in town; she was a people person at heart, just like her father had been, and she loved the life of being in the center of the village. But also, she liked this place, it felt like it was her roots, where she belonged even. But she hated how quiet the place was when she was alone, this was a home for many children and laughter, and life. Sadly, though, it appeared to be empty because Yamanaka were people persons, and not traditional in the normal sense.
"It is a peaceful place," Sai said and she was startled when his inky eyes flew open and he looked at her with that piercing gaze of his; like he knew all of her secrets and weaknesses and would exploit them or guard them. Which she wasn't entirely certain, but that's how it looked to her as she stared back at him.
"My family hasn't lived her for the past few generations, we keep it because it's the clan's roots, but we haven't lived here for nearly a century," she said and she decided to stretch out beside him as she stared at the tree. "What about you Sai? Do you have roots?"
"No," he answered and he looked back up to the tree leaves.
"Really?" she inquired, wishing desperately to know more about the man who was here with her right now. Sai was an enigma to her, he was perhaps closest to Sakura; even Naruto didn't know that much about Sai; she had prodded his mind subtly.
"In Root I was anyone and no one," he said softly then and she propped herself up then.
"I thought that was a rumor," she informed him. He shook his head.
"No. Sai is the longest I've ever been," he said and his eyes looked to her as if expecting something from that.
"Well, then, if you're Sai now, then tell me about yourself Sai," Ino prompted eagerly. Anything to distract her from her troubles and worries. Anything to give her a hint as to who he was, she knew who he was though; the basics of who he was at least, but she desperately wanted to know about him.
"There is nothing to tell," Sai said bluntly.
"There's always a story to someone, Sai, you just need to tell it, and I want to know you." she persisted.
"Why?" he asked blandly as he gave her a confused yet indifferent look.
"Well…" she thought about this carefully as she pursed her lips together and then slid him a thoughtful look. "You are Billboard Brow's teammate, and Forehead obviously loves you and she's my best friend and I would like to be your friend as well."
"Friends?" he asked her.
"Yeah, I mean we're stuck together until you're all better, and I'd rather us at least be friends rather than enemies for the next few months. Also, Forehead will break me into little itty bitty pieces if we fight the entire time," she pointed out. That seemed to be his agreement point.
"Alright, Beautiful, comrades?" he asked her as he slowly and carefully pulled himself up into sitting position. He was aching but he wouldn't let it show as he sat up to look into her eyes which were the same color as the sun.
"No, Sai, comrades are not friends, we're going to be friends," Ino stated flatly which had him tiliting his head.
"Alright, Dickless and Ugly are my only friends, I will be happy to have you as a friend!" he smiled then, thinking that was the polite answer according to the books he had read. He'd have to ask Ugly about it later.
"Great!" she wrapped her arms around him as she smiled broadly. He just stiffened, no one aside from Ugly hugged him, and even then he didn't really know what to do. She pulled away, and his heart was racing as if he had run to the village from Suna again, and he was thinking of asking Ugly about it. He didn't know how much more confusion his body gave him he could take!
"Alright, I'm Yamanaka Ino, I have tons of clansmen, no siblings, I don't currently have a crush or a date, my best friend in the entire world is Haruno Sakura, Shikamaru and Chōji are like my brothers, but we're Ino-Shika-Chō so we're always really close. I love shopping. My favorite food are cherry tomatoes, and pudding; I despise sashimi. And I love flowers. Your turn," she prompted.
"I'm Sai," he said.
"Ugh!" her head fell and he smiled a real smile in amusement; he kind of liked purposely exasperating Ino, her reactions were far less painful than Ugly's. Also, Ugly had an uncanny ability of seeing through him whenever he was playing dumb. Like now, but Ugly wasn't here to punch him and tell him not to be an ass, so he was going to enjoy toying with Beautiful.
"Tell me about yourself Sai," she ordered.
"I had a brother, Shin; he's dead. I like drawing and calligraphy." Though how much longer until he could or couldn't draw he didn't know, and it pained him to think about his never being able to hold a brush again. "I like momen tofu, I hate mitarashi dango. I dislike the traitor, he hurts Ugly. Naruto is my friend, and Ugly said I'm her brother so I guess that would make her my sister. Also, I'm straight," he said.
She was giggling hysterically at the last one for some reason, but she had been the one to say she had no crushes, and Ugly had thoroughly explained to him just what exactly a girl meant by crush. She had not explained what a date was, claiming she had never been on one and punched Naruto when he said he took her for ramen all the time.
"You don't need to tell people your straight," she giggled then.
"Oh?" he tilted his head in confusion.
"Sexuality is personal, you don't always need to advertise it, but that said, it's good you at least know you are attracted to women. Sakura said you didn't always know who you were because you were trying to figure yourself out," Ino said.
"Ugly is not wrong, but I like women," he said then.
"Any particular kind of woman?" she asked slyly then and he just shook his head. He was not one to 'date' just yet. It was not for lack of interest, but if he needed a woman he knew where to go to have one for a night of meaningless sex. When he needed to be, he could be good at seduction, but he never told Ugly that or Dickless for that matter. One because Ugly would punch him to Suna and back, she did not believe in just sex for whatever reason. And two, because Dickless would want him to prove it, and he did not want that. Besides, he was not entirely certain Dickless wasn't gay… and he did not want to find out if that was the case.
"Hm, we'll figure that one out later," she said with a delicate shrug but he felt like she wasn't telling him something.
"That's alright," he said then, besides, he was having enough difficulties with his body and Ino than he ever wanted her to know. the last thing he needed was her trying to help him figure out what kind of woman he was attracted to.
Sunshine and blue popped to mind but he ignored it because he did not understand what his own mind was thinking at this moment.
He was having a serious talk with Ugly when he had a moment and she was not with the traitor.
"What? Don't you want to figure it out!?" Ino demanded as she planted her hands on her sitting hips.
"It's alright Beautiful, I will figure it out on my own," he assured her. Ino frowned but sighed then as she dismissed this very uncomfortable topic and continued on.
He found she had a million questions for him; some of them he did not have answers to because he did not know he needed to know his favorite color, or his favorite book, or song, he had never really thought about it.
But now, he found himself staring at Beautiful as she slept in the grass, her platinum blonde hair was fanned out against the green grass and he felt a longing in his heart and a desire in his fingers. He wanted to paint her, paint her like this, unguarded and innocent, beautiful, and spring, but he couldn't. He might never be able to paint her like this so he found himself just staring at her as she slept. The clouds rolled in and he gently prodded her shoulder when the first rain drop hit his head.
"What is it Sai?" she yawned as she stretched her arms above her head.
"It's raining now, Beautiful," he informed her. a drop of water decided to land on her center brow then and she frowned.
"So it is indeed. Come on inside, Sai, I think I have tofu, I can make us that for dinner or would you prefer something else?" she asked as she helped him unsteadily to his feet.
"That is acceptable," he assured her. she chuckled a bit, and he again wondered what he had said as her laugh made his stomach feel weird. He was having a serious talk with Ugly after this! His body was acting too weird even for him!
That's all for now folks!
Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)
