The Replacement

Apologies

"Sai!" A voice called.

The artist considered running away, he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. He just wanted to make it to the solitude of his apartment so he could stare at the wall for a few hours and then sleep his post-mission fatigue off.

"I'm glad I caught you," the voice said breathlessly. He realized it was closer now and decided that running away was no longer an option.

Turning, he saw that the voice belonged to Tenten. He blinked, waiting for her to continue.

"I wanted to apologize for what happened before," she said sincerely. "I was only trying to help." She shrugged, "It's what friends do, they talk stuff out."

It had been over a week since Sai had ran away from a discussion with Tenten about his former teammates. In essence, he had run away, there was really no other term for it.

"I see," he said slowly, considering her comment about friends. Then he realized his mistake and said, "You are forgiven."

She grinned. "Can I make it up to you?"

"That will not be necess-"

"C'mon, there must be some way..."

"I really don't-"

"There's a new restaurant down in the civvy bit of town that opened last week. Choji says its amazing..." She left her statement hanging for a minute. Then she realized that he wasn't going to pick up on her hint. She would have to get used to that.

"We could go. My treat."

"No thank you," he said flatly and turned to leave.

Tenten sighed and closed her eyes. His aloof demeanor was nothing like Neji's. It stemmed from sadness and loneliness, not arrogance and pride. She felt pity for the artist instead of annoyance.

She resolved to give it one last try. She had to jog to catch up with him. "I wish you'd give me a chance to be your friend. You've isolated yourself long enough, it's time to take a chance. I promise I would never intentionally hurt you. Lee either."

"Neither would Naruto or Sakura," she could hear the pain just below the surface. "But it doesn't change what happened."

Tenten shook her head. "I don't want to put anyone down, least of all your old teammates, but they had to know somewhere what they were doing."

At this, Sai stopped. "You mean they did it on purpose?"

"No," she was quick to respond. "But sometimes you know deep down you're hurting someone but you do it anyway. And sometimes it's someone you really care about."

He didn't respond.

"I'm just saying that I think they knew. I'm not saying they meant it or that they don't care about you. I think they do." She frowned, hoping he was understanding what she was trying to say.

"They don't," he spat, and resumed walking.

Tenten was not deterred. "Have they apologized?"

Sai continued in his hurried pace, not even making it known he had heard her and she was sure she had overstepped some boundary. But then at last he spoke, "They didn't mean it."

"Their apology?"

"Yes, they were forced... By Kakashi."

Tenten looked skeptical, "Are you sure?"

"Why are you following me?" He asked, changing the subject abruptly.

"Because you're walking away while I'm talking to you."

One would think Sai would stop at hearing this but he did not.

"Are you sure they were forced?" Tenten pushed.

The artist's hands clenched at his sides. "No."

"I doubt they were, Sai. They were probably sincere. Don't you think they felt bad about what happened?"

The artist stopped now, but only because they had arrived at his apartment door. "No," he said simply.

"Then I must say that you can't possibly know them very well. I'm surprised you have so little faith in them."

Sai unlocked his door and stepped inside, "You shouldn't be," he said before slamming the door in her face.

I'm utterly ashamed of the lateness of this but I used up all my internet again and had to wait for it to reset at midnight.

Next Update: Tomorrow to make up! Or maybe later today...