He had no life, no hopes as such
Oh, how he would love to at least feel this much
Was he just a hollow shell?
Now, even he couldn't tell.
Cut off from society, no friends, no dreams.
It's too soon to tell what lies ahead
Let us start this story for now,
Without any fear, without any dread.

Was the world always this…. colourless? Was he always this emotionless? Would he ever find someone who would love him for who he was, like he'd read of in his books? Wait, why was he even thinking of finding love? He never did before? And if he had to start then why now, at the start of his freshman year?

He had tons of questions but answers to none. He was useless not to mention emotionless and stale; nothing but a burden upon the whole country or maybe, the whole world. Since when had he started thinking so low of himself?

Oh! Yeah, since then of course.

He sighed and got up - no use thinking about such things at 6:00 in the morning, better get ready and wake ugly...umm...Sakura and dick…uh…no, whisker-face up he thought. Damn! It was really hard not to call his roommates by the innovative nicknames he had come with for them.

When he first called them that - none of them had wanted to share the dorm together but they just had to. Naruto even considered going and living on the street than with his hormonal pink-haired friend and mannequin man - Sakura had gotten so that she threw him out of the window of their dorm which was on the fourth floor. Naruto had just whined and protested against the size of his…. which earned him the same fate as Sai. Luckily, they only broke an arm and a leg each. They landed on some thorny bushes. Ouch. He understood later what he did wrong, you never tell a girl the truth about her looks - he read in a book –tell them the exact opposite.

He gets up, brushes his teeth, takes a shower (he always takes a shower twice a day. It always made him feel clean on the outside at least, he says. It also, made him smell better than Naruto) wears his clothes-the usual consisting of black cargo pants and a black t-shirt-and then puts on his glasses- which make him look like a cute little nerd-as Sakura had told him.

Sai was well aware of the fact that he was quite good-looking, not to be boastful but he knew that if he were without his glasses he would have his own fangirl club.

His porcelain face and his vampire-like pale complexion combined with his silky black hair and deep coal-coloured eyes and his well-shaped body - he didn't have full- fledged abs or clearly defined muscles but he was pretty lean and muscular- all added to his charm. That and his sharp tongue, which always spoke the bitter truth.

He went out of his room and knocked on his pink-haired roommate's door first. A soft groan could be heard from inside as he heard footsteps make their way to the door. The door opened and the daily morning ritual began.

"Sai!", a low growl could be heard coming from the messy pink-haired beast whose eyes were half-closed, "It's only six right now. I don't know which planet you're from but go back to it and stop destroying us. She was now at the edge of yelling and Sai knew that. "You have exactly six seconds to explain yourself and I am counting. One. Two. Three…"

Oh, no he'd better hurry up. "You see today is the first day of freshman year and I thought that we should go and have an early breakfast before our classes…."

"Time's up. Now do you want a nice uppercut or a swift kick in the gut…. Wait, today's…. the first day? Shit! I knew I shouldn't have binge-watched a whole season of Empire! Shit! I've got my first lecture at..." She swiftly reaches for her binder and pulls out her schedule.

Sometimes Sakura's speed did manage to astonish him. Sakura was indeed tiny and petite. However, if you went on her tiny frame you would be seriously underestimating the pre-med girl. Sakura had trained in martial arts and self- defence for about three years, and her punches could send you flying if you were not careful. She was also quite short-tempered with a strong sense of justice. The last part always sounded funny to Naruto when Sakura mentioned it but Sai-being the hollow being that he was-couldn't really understand why.

"My first human anatomy lecture is at 7:00. Ok then. Go wake that butthead now and be ready in exactly half-an hour. Oh! and charge my laptop too, It's dead. See ya!", she sounded a little rushed. Sai had once read in a book that girls often took over an hour to get ready and staying with Sakura proved that point. Though Sakura unlike the other girls was not beauty conscious, she was still a girl.

With Sakura woken up the tough part began. Wake up the 'butthead' as she told. Sai went and stood in front of Naruto's small orange door-he had insisted that the door and his walls be painted his and his Hyuuga girlfriend's favourite colour. He knocked hard on the door. No response. What was the secret technique that ugly taught him? Oh, yes, he remembered.

He cleared his throat and began "dick. NO. Naruto! Hinata is here with a big bowl of ramen."

After he shouted this out, he waited for some time and with his best imitation of the shy Hyuuga girl he began "N-Naruto-kun. Ohaiyo." Job done.

Truth be told, Naruto was still a child at heart. Of course, over the years he had matured quite a bit, but he was still as dense and stupid as ever. He was lean-built with a tanned complexion and had short, spikey blonde hair. After getting together with his girlfriend Hinata about a year ago, he wanted to get rid of his messy blonde hair. The new look did suit him though. He was not the smartest in the lot but he was good at sports and at being…...Naruto.

Naruto has his way with people. Even though he's stubborn, arrogant and childish; he's always able to cheer people up wherever he goes. The aura he gives off was happy, bright and everything right. The complete opposite of him. Naruto had helped him overcome his social fears and anxieties back in high school. Thanks to the help and support he received from Naruto, Sakura and his teacher Yamato, Sai was able to improve a bit.

Naruto was the complete opposite of Sai. Both Sakura and Naruto were. They expressed their emotions so vividly. They were cheerful, happy, confident, not to mention good with people.

All of a sudden, the door flew open and out came a surprised Naruto. Luckily Sai was able to move away from it in time.

"Where's Hina-Chan?" asked the blonde. "Is she really here? She told me that she would wait for me at the dining area for breakfast." A wide goofy grin broke onto the 20-year old's face. "She just can't stay without seeing me huh? Tell her I'll be right there. Just let me get ready."

And with that the orange door was slammed shut. Sai could never understand emotions that well to begin with but that changed in high school.

Sai had gone to the same high school as Sakura and Naruto. He remembered, in high school they had a massive group of friends including a guy who looked like him named Sasuke. Sakura liked him a lot. However, after graduating he mysteriously disappeared. Sai had heard that Sasuke had gotten involved with the Akatsuki-a big gang in the criminal underworld a few years back. Something to do with his brother, but Sai didn't want to pry. After the ceremony, Sasuke met with Sakura, and no one knows anything other than that.

Sakura refused to speak to anyone except Naruto about what he said. He was a part of their team. Those three were good friends. Not like him, thankfully-socially inept. Sai always thought of himself as a replacement for Sasuke.

He was never close to Naruto and Sakura, and he never could be either. The society had to function. So, Sai had to remain hidden.

Though he transferred in at the last year and didn't talk to almost anyone but Sakura, Naruto and occasionally Sasuke. Sai found solace in art. When the world shut him out, he always had his charcoal, paints and his canvas to return to. He was a remarkable artist. He had heard that many times from people.

But they never could understand the depth of his art. No one. Not even his brother. His past would forever haunt him. The world would forever shun him. This act would forever go on.
He would be forever empty.

Some people were like flowers, Sakura had once told him. They always turn towards the Sun and face its heat head on. They would endure through the seasons as tiny little buds and once the season was right, they would bloom. They would bloom and give hope to the others. They would look up to the skies and urge the others to look up to the skies to.

He had asked her why they would do that. Why would you want to give someone you barely knew something like hope? Its silly.

She just shrugged in reply and said "I have to ask my friend that, she's the one who told me this. But if you ask me I think it's because of these flowers that the little buds see hope. Just think, if there were no flowers do you think the buds would have any hope? Would they ever want to endure and bloom? People are just like that, she said. If you give them hope and support, they can also bloom and face the Sun head on. Look forward in life and instead of seeing the world at its worst, see it at its best."

The day she told him this he thought about it a lot. No. He didn't find much logic in what Sakura told, but then again, she didn't even understand what she was saying. Typical Sakura. If there was one thing she hated, it was not being able to provide an answer to something She felt dumb if she didn't. She just had to provide an answer, even if it was ridiculous and made no sense, like the one she gave in response to Sai's question. He had to find the answer someday, and also meet this wise friend of Sakura.

Maybe if he could find this person, they could answer his biggest question- What was Sai?

The door burst open and out stepped a slightly refreshed and dressed Sakura carrying a backpack. Naruto too stepped out.

"Hey! Where's Hinata?" Sakura turned towards Sai and mouthed- I see. Her short bubble gum hair was pulled back by a hairband and her bangs were falling in front of her face. She was wearing a green shirt and brown pants. The pants – Sai noticed – were too big for her. But then again, they were Sasuke's pants. A parting gift she had told him. Sounded fishy to him then, sounds fishy to him now.

Sakura replied to Naruto, "You see she got tired of waiting around for you and decided to meet you for breakfast like you guys originally planned."

"Oh! Ok then. Let's go!" the blonde yelled.

Just as Sai was about to leave Sakura whispered to him, "nice job there. Glad, you used the technique." Sai gave his fake smile in response and walked out.

The dining area was not that crowded during the early morning hours. Just a few students here and there. Naruto spotted Hinata coming to the place with two random people. A guy with spikey brown and sharp teeth and another who was wearing sunglasses in this cloudy weather. He quickly ran over to her and grabbed her in for a bear hug. Sai could have sworn that the girl was going to die of suffocation. The orange-hoodie clad blonde released her quite soon though.

The next five minutes were spent introducing the people with Hinata. Kiba was the spikey haired boy who had two large fang-like red marks tattooed on his cheeks. He said that every person in the Inuzuka family had them. Aburame Shino was a quite one who didn't speak much and wore sunglasses even when there was no sun out. Weird people. Sai however found them friendly enough.

Kiba and Naruto become good friends almost immediately-given their similar natures. Shino was the quiet one-just like Sai. Though Sai did pass remarks every now and then. Sakura and Hinata just talked about random stuff. Both of them were really good friends. Hinata had transferred to the high school just a while before Sai, but was still quite social despite her quiet and shy demeanour. She was confident of her abilities. She went to the literary school. Her lavender eyes were what once made people too scared to even approach her. Naruto changed that though. And they found love. Whatever love is.

Breakfast was short and uneventful. For him it was at least. Naruto and Kiba argued about something while Shino tried to stop them. Hinata and Sakura talked about their classes-they were apparently having a few lectures together, as Hinata had taken science minors. Sai just had his breakfast. His first lecture was at 11:00, so he was the only one who didn't have a morning lecture. Good.

The others bid him goodbye and walked away to wherever they had to go. He sat at the table for a while, doing what he loved to do on days like this- people-watching.

Many would say that staring at people is the same as invading their private space, but Sai would say otherwise. People-watching was an extremely time consuming hobby. Quite often Sai would just watch a person for about five minutes, and if the person did nothing interesting (or said something interesting) or entertaining enough, he would turn his gaze towards someone else.

It was also quite risky. If you happened to be staring at somebody and that person caught you staring at them, they would either walk away, glare at you or raise their eyebrows at you and mouth 'what?' – if you weren't hot and popular, that is. Others would often take the more aggressive approach-these people were often of the opposite sex.

The Fire Leaf University was massive. It was supposed to be one of the most renowned universities in fire country-it's dorms though were another story. The university's various other facilities included four massive libraries in each corner and several resource centres spread over the campus. It looked like a university, that's all Sai could say. Patches of green here and there, different schools and colleges scattered around the vast campus. The usual. According to the map of the university Sai got; his first lecture as a fine arts major would be in the fine arts building (Obviously) in the south end of the campus- about a good three to five minutes from here depending upon his mood.

He got up and walked out of the hall. The grounds had started to fill up. Students were rushing from one place to another, obviously late and in a hurry. But he paid no heed to them. His eyes were now automatically searching for a relatively quiet place to sit and sketch before his lecture began. There! He found one. A small patch of grass in the corner of the campus stood out to him. He made his way towards the lone tree standing in the corner, his backpack containing his sketchbook and art supplies dangling casually from his shoulder. He was able to get there unscathed, luckily. The rush was only getting worse. The inside of the campus was now beginning to look like the crowded streets of Tokyo- with students banging into each other every now and then muttering a small sorry before moving on to their next victim.

Sai was glad to be away from the midst of the rush. He really disliked crowded places. They reminded him of things he wanted to forget.

He set down his bag onto the overgrown grass and sat down on it himself. He leaned against the smooth and cold trunk of the oak tree and taking out his sketchbook, began sketching the campus.

The corner Sai had chosen was isolated and empty. No one even came near it, even though the dining hall and cafeteria were just around the corner. And judging from the overgrown vegetation in the place, it seemed that the authorities often forgot about the place too.

How could these people not notice the only oak tree in the entire campus? No, they did notice this place of course. They just don't go to it. It's probably too dark or lonely for them. After all, who in their right happy, cheerful and don't-get-your-new-designer-clothes-dirty mind would want to go to such a place? Only him probably. He could relate so much to this place. Cold. Lonely. Alone. Left out. And…

"Wow! You draw really nicely, a fine arts student, right?"

His eyes widened in shock as he quickly turned around and lifted his head-only to meet the glare of the Sun against his glasses. Wait wasn't it cloudy just ten minutes ago? Weather changes so fast in fire country. How the rays manage to penetrate through the dense oak leaves, he does not know. What he does know is that he is yet to see the face of his 'nosy' admirer; but an admirer nevertheless. He squints and finally see the person standing above him. Blank-coal eyes meets a sparkling baby-blue one.

It's a girl. An absolutely stunning beauty that too. Her platinum blonde hair is tied in a high-pony, in such a manner that a carefully done-up bang covers her right eye and almost the entire right half of her face. Her skin is a shade darker than his and her cherry-red lips are parted slightly in awe as she stares over his shoulder at his sketchbook.

It is then that he notices something. She wears no make-up at all, just like his roommate- but unlike his roommate she still looks beautiful. Hot would be the right word. Did he mention that her body is made for the cover of 'vogue'? Not too less and not too much – just right.

Her curves are defined and so is her flat stomach. She's not muscular but good nevertheless. The perfect body that all girls, heck! All guys want. Yet she doesn't show it too much. She's dressed in a pair of white jeans, emphasizing her long legs and a brownish-yellow t-shirt which says, 'If being lazy were a subject, I'd be a PRODIGY'. Did not look like it. Enough about her looks. He can't judge a person by their looks. That's unfair.

So instead he chooses to reply to her question. "Yes, I am a fine art major."

"Aa. So that explains why you draw so well. I don't even think that this campus looks as good as you've done it." She doesn't hesitate at all as every word flows out of her perfect lips. Her voice was sweet and melodious. He could listen to it forever.

"Perhaps." Sai was a man of very few or no words, but some part of him wanted to talk to this angel.

"What brings you to this dark and forgotten part of the campus, may I ask?"

She wets her lip with her tongue and replies. "Well, you see No.1- I actually happen to like dark and creepy places and No.2- I was actually headed towards the dining hall, but then I spotted a person sitting in this dark patch in the corner of the campus and my curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to see what this 'person was doing or should I say sketching.'"

"So, you gave up five minutes of your time to come and see what a person you don't know is drawing?" he asked with a hint of disbelieve in his voice.

"Yep. And by the way I can get to know you, if you let me umm…person-with-glasses-that-are-too-big-for-your-cute-face." Wait. Did she just call him cute? He was not a kid!

"I am Sai, by the way. Not whatever you just called me. And I still don't know who you are, my secret admirer." He smirked a little bit while adding the last part. Weird. How was he so comfortable around this person? Why did he always know what to say? What was she doing to him?

She gave a low chuckle before responding "I'm Yamanaka Ino of Konoha's Yamanaka clan. And no, I am not your 'secret' admirer. I'm just an admirer." She smiled at that. A beautiful smile that would shine in his memory for ages to come. Hmmm…memory…

Oh, shit! He forgot to charge the laptop. Anyways…

She sat down next to him on the overgrown grass, and snatched the sketchbook out of his hands. She then began expertly going through his work. He noticed how carefully she turned each page and avoided touching the sketches as much as she could to prevent them from smudging. She cared.
"You really are talented, ne?
Yamanaka Ino- a bright, colourful cosmos. He liked it. That was how he met HER.
A tale as old as time

…...

AUTHOR's NOTE: Sorry, that was unnecessarily long. I don't actually write that well. What can I say, I'm just a kid? I guess so. I'll make the next chapter fairly shorter and yes…...I shall give you some fluff. It's Ino's chapter next. It's going to be way better so please bear with me.

I love reviews…...SO GIVE me some. See ya!