Bit By Bit

Color

She sighed as she stared off at the clouds. It was a warm and beautiful morning, meaning that she had to spend it outside. Shikamaru must have rubbed off on her more than she thought if she was spending her day off watching clouds. She had to admit that it was meditative. Maybe that's why he did it so much. Even after all these years of knowing him, his genius still surprised her sometimes.

Ino sighed again as she thought about her lazy friend. She missed hanging out with him more than she was willing to admit out loud. With all of his work with Kakashi and the alliance, Shikamaru was much too busy to have any free time to spend with her or Choji. And even Choji was spending less and less time with her. Something must be going on in his life and she'd have to remember to ask about it later.

Today was her day off from the hospital, but Sakura still had to work. That left Ino all alone on the gorgeous afternoon. Her friends were growing up - becoming their own person and starting their own lives. Even Ino found herself becoming more and more caught up in her responsibilities. 

Between her work at the hospital, her job with the interrogation division, and her regular missions, she'd never found herself busier in her life - which might've been part of the reason that her day off from everything felt so weird. According to Shikamaru, most of their friends had become borderline workaholics. Ino could only fathom the reason for this trend.

Without meaning to, her mind drifted to her most recent urgent mission - the Land of Silence. Shikamaru had gotten himself in too deep and she had to come and help him get out of it. Shinobi from every village were going missing or rouge and, it turned out, they had flocked to a man named Gengo in the Land of Silence. Even a member of Naruto's team, Sai, had fallen victim to the man's genjustu. Having gone into his head, it wasn't hard to see why.

Sai's mind was full of darkness. Just the memory of the cold, black place sent a shiver up her spine. It made her worry. But at the same time, it intrigued her. There was more to the pale man than a fake smile and a mouth he can't control. He was like a puzzle - one of the big ones with lots of pieces that no one ever bothered to put together. But Ino wanted to put them together; she wanted to solve Sai. And with that resolve came curiosity. She needed to get to know the man, as hard as that might be with the comments and remarks that he makes.

She'd have to start simple.

Sitting up, she spotted him sitting on Kakashi's stone face. Tentatively, she made her way across the village and up the mountain to where he was sitting. She did her best not to sneak up on him. "Hey Sai."

Without looking up from what he was drawing, he replied, "Hello."

"What are you drawing?" She asked, trying her best to be friendly even in response to his rudeness. "Anything special?"

"No."

Growing frustrated - Choji was right, she did need to work on her short temper - she decided to stop beating around the bush and get to the point. "What's your favorite color?"

"Hm?" He asked, finally looking at her. "What's my favorite color?"

Ino put her hands on her hips. "You heard me. What's your favorite color, Sai?"

He seemed to contemplate the simple question for a moment, looking out over Konoha. A few minutes passed by without Sai providing an answer. Ino saw him scrunch up his brow ever so slightly, as if he just couldn't get a grip on what he was being asked. "Hm."

"Sai," Ino said, raising her voice, "all I wanted to know was your favorite color. Just pick one!"

"I don't know." Sai replied, seemingly unaffected by Ino's outburst. "I don't really understand."

Ino sighed loudly. "You're an artist, aren't you? You have to have a favorite color. Just let me know. I'm not going to get offended or anything."

Sai shrugged his shoulders, an unreadable expression on his face. "I don't have a favorite color. Why have a favorite color? Do people choose which color they like over the others often?"

Ino held her head, shaking it. "Never mind. Don't worry about it."

Sai flashed an empty smile. "Okay."

Ino walked away, trying to get a grip on her attitude. She couldn't tell if he was being honest, or if he enjoying aggravating people like that. For now, Ino was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and say that it was a mixture of both. Who in their right mind asks why people have a favorite color? She couldn't get a grip on it. She spotted Choji walking into the village through the front gates and made her way over to him.

Getting to know Sai was going to be harder than she thought.