Title: Human After All
Summary: Of all the reasons in all the world, Sai knew all the best ones while saying the least.
Note: Written in my Chemistry class between notes. Possibly a B-Side to Only Me Now, I don't remember.
Whenever Naruto failed to fail, he only strengthened Sai's beliefs in the human condition. But there were times when those assumptions may have been just a little off or partially biased... overconfidence was as much a vice as pride itself, but Sai could neither feel nor understand either of those things and would often find himself searching for answers elsewhere.
"Why're ya still staring at me you creepy bastard?"
Sai smiled lightly at the insult. How usual - this one little blond constant.
"Because I can."
"You keep eyeballin' me like that and pretty soon you're not gonna be able to see..."
Turning away, but only to appease Naruto, Sai kept quiet. He knew now it was better to not overly provoke the other, end results could be potentially dangerous. But a little egging on here and there was all in good fun.
Naruto complained to himself only a minute or two more before silence resumed and they continued to wait for their third teammate. It would be a little while though before Sakura was expected to show up, earlier that morning a hawkling had carried a note directly from the Hokage's office briefly apologizing for her apprentices' delayed absence.
Serious situation... need medics...
And Kakashi was supposed to brief them an upcoming mission too, but everyone knew you had to tack two or so late hours onto his expected time of arrival. Still more left to waste before they could begin training...
"I think I'll draw." Sai reached into his back pocket and began to pull out a few art supplies. Naruto just scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"Thanks for the play-by-play announcer guy."
"You're welcome."
It made the hair rise on the back of his tanned neck. Why did he always have to be such a prick? Why did Sai always have to have the last word?
"What exactly do you get outta pissing me off? Really?" Naruto figured he had a right to know. Sai just kept on smiling, all fake and shrewd.
"Just because I can."
Naruto's eye picked up a slight twitch. Because he can, because he could, because he knew how to – all of that childish reasoning just succeeded in pissing him off more! THAT WASN'T FAIR! THAT WAS CHEATING!
"I really hate you..." he seethed, avoiding eye contact at all costs.
"I know you do."
Having finally managed to retrieve a small sketchbook and a pencil, Sai made to sit on a step intent on doodling for the duration of their wait. They'd been parked in front of the library now for at least a half an hour by now.
Mild tolerance and everything encompassing proper civility managed to reign between the two of them for the better portion of another ten minutes before someone finally spoke up to ruin it. Oddly enough, it wasn't Naruto who'd cracked.
"You look much better smiling."
Caught off guard but not too tousled, he fought back, "Shut the hell up!"
Sai's face became serious while his hand remained busy scribbling on the paper. Not once did he look up and any of his usual lame attempts at a more appealing expression were gone.
"I mean that in all honesty," he paused momentarily to catch sight of the darker depths beyond Naruto's eyes. He was unknowingly testing a new boundary...
"A smile looks much better than a frown, don't you think?"
"Phfft..." Naruto quickly looked away. Honestly, Sai had to be related to Yamato... both their eyes were creepy and weird when they wanted them to be. "What would you know about smiles anyway ya' big faker?"
Sai said nothing in response; his words personified by the sounds of his pencil scratching against paper. A few minutes later there was a loud tear in the peace, he had ripped a sheet from his sketchbook. Sai didn't fold it and he didn't say a word when he finally thrust it in the others direction.
He waited until Naruto took it from him before standing up to quietly wander away, trying to make the distance between them even wider. Sai knew Naruto had no intentions of following him and wanting that kind of pursuit to happen was definitely out of the question, but he also knew that he didn't really care either way.
Only when Sai was far enough out of view, did Naruto glance down to examine the small piece of paper now in his hand.
Words. Sai had written words. They were scribbled just as nicely as he had imagined they would be; people who were creative, like artists, always had the nicest penmanship in Naruto's opinion.
APPARENTLY NOTHING...
The scrawl accompanied a more life-like sketch of him smiling under the nearby trees.