'Art is not what you see, but what you make others see'

- Edgar Degas


~ • ~

Kaiya sat inside that wardrobe for a few hours before coming out.

Long after the silence that followed from hearing Naruto and Shikamaru's muffled arguing finish in the other room.

She didn't come out when Naruto came in to check on her shortly after telling her to get some rest.

Kaiya sat and focused on her breath, each exhale and inhale, til it got too stuffy and she saw light peering through the cracks of the wardrobe door.

Slowly stepping out she unfolded herself and stretched, eyes adjusting to the light of the dawn sun.

I'll catch up on sleep later... she thought, snagging the shorts that she had removed the night before. They had dried from the sweat at least, but had a lingering chill from the night.

Kaiya sighed, hopefully she could avoid any future confrontations with Shikamaru for a while, last night didn't help her case with him, nor did she feel like trying to improve it with the incident still raw.

She just wanted to forget it for now and move on with her day.

Her day with Naruto Uzumaki.

It still felt unbelievable to her.

Hearing him bustling about in the next room, Kaiya composed herself and put her stuff together in a small black nin-bag she found. She even found some pencils she could use for sketching. Small victory there.

Kaiya leaving Sasuke's/her room the smell of eggs and miso hit her nose. She wondered to the kitchen to find Naruto frying eggs in a pan while two ramen noodle cups were steaming on the bench next to him.

"Do you eat anything other then ramen?" she mused, one brow raised.

Naruto turned, "Hey I'm making eggs too!" He beamed with a chuckle.

Kaiya deadpanned "That just makes it egg ramen, still just another type of ramen."

"Just come and eat, we have to leave soon," he rushed, adding the egg to the cups and passing one to her, "I have training."

Kaiya took the ramen from him started to eat, all the while Naruto lent against the bench shovelling with the chopsticks.

She paused after a few bites. "Will Shikamaru be there?" She asked quizzically.

"He'll too occupied getting his ass kicked to bother you, don't worry."

Trouble is, worrying is what she's good at.


The walk through Konaha towards the training grounds was quiet. Few people were on the streets, and those that there were setting up shops or other ninja on patrol. It was too early for the village to be truly awake and alive.

As they got closer to where the grounds were located, the road became lined with more trees and bird sounds from multiple directions. It was peaceful, and quite relaxing considering where we're headed.

At least it was, until the ground began to shake.

"Damn it, they started without us!" Naruto hissed before picking up the pace.

Kaiya ran after him, keeping balance through each short quake as we went. She could easily guess who would cause a ruckus like this.

"Damn it, Forehead! I'm not in the mood today!" A loud voice exclaimed ahead.

"Suck it Ino-pig, you brought it upon yourself!"

The quakes got stronger as they reached the train ground. They arrived to find Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka battling it out while Choji Akimichi stood to the side looking concerned.

"What the hell's going on here, Cho?" Naruto called out as we walked over to where he stood.

Choji rubbed the back of his head, "Ino accidentally said something insensitive to Sakura… Again."

They both hmm'd to themselves while Ino dodged another blow.

"… you didn't try to stop them?"

"I don't have a death wish, the girls are on a warpath today!"

Another voice sighed behind us. "Troublesome."

Kaiya turned to see Shikamaru trudging towards the chaos.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at him, followed by Shikamaru making a nod back, and walking towards the girls, already making hand signs.

"Alright ladies break it up…"

Naruto put his hand on Kaiya's shoulder, "Told ya," he snickered with a wink.

"So…" Choji interrupted, "Who's this?" He gestures toward Kaiya.

Naruto introduced her to Choji, and eventually Sakura and Ino once Shikamaru had calmed them down enough.

Not long after, Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga showed up and she was introduced to them aswell.

They were all friendly, even Kiba, although she wasn't sure if he was suspicious about her considering the day before.

After introductions concluded and training started, Kaiya found a shaded place to the side of the clearing under a tree and began to draw.

Stroke after stroke, she etched the lead against the pages, shading each shadow letting the shapes take form as she watched the movements of the ninja before her.

The experience was thrilling for her, seeing each jutsu live in her presence was indescribable and all she could do was be in awe.

As she finished her first sketch she let a smile escape her lips.

It's the best one I've done of him.

"Hm, you actually made dickless not look ugly." A voice spoke from above.

Kaiya looked up startled, and saw Sai staring down at her. In a flash he was sitting next to her examining her work further.

"Thanks…" Kaiya muttered, not sure what to say. Sai was impossible to read, but she was knew the ex-Root agent would be. And in person he was just as much of a blank persona as originally thought.

"I'm Kaiya," she imparted while holding out her hand.

Sai broke his stare from the page and smiled extending his hand into hers.

"Sai."

Jeez that's worse then my fake smile.

After a brief shake he directed his attention back to the sketch.

"What's your fascination with Naruto?" He asked bluntly.

"He makes good subject matter," she worded carefully, "and I'm his roommate."

She figured loosely sticking to truth would be the best form of action with Sai, no sign of deceit would mean no need for suspicion.

"Yes I heard, he's assigned to watch you til the Hokage knows what to do with you, why that is I couldn't care less," he remarked. "But…"

He raised his gaze back up to mine.

"… You got some talent, so you're mildly interesting."

Kaiya blinked, pure candor is rare, and perplexing. She didn't know whether to be concerned about him or not.

She continued to draw as Sai watched her silently. It was almost creepy, but Kaiya didn't let it bother her as she went.

Her focus this time was a kunai on the ground nearby, the light hit the blade in a way that needed to be captured on paper.

It was a flawless rendition, so much so that Kaiya swore she saw Sai smile for real.

"May I?" He asked politely.

"Sure," she replied curiously.

Sai proceeded to gently take the art book and placed it on the ground in front of them.

He started making signs.

"Ninpou: kunai!" He spoke with a smirk, and the kunai I draw came off the page for a moment.

Sai looked towards Kaiya and winked, before sending it flying towards the other ninja.

"Fuck! Sai that almost got me!" A familiar voice yelled.

Kaiya giggled.

I think I just made a friend.


*AUTHORS NOTE*

I know it's been a long time since an update... okay it's been years.

I've since grown up and had a kid and got married, but I came across my old story and thought "fuck it" and decided to keep writing.

Hopefully I don't disappoint 3