Matters to Me

Chapter 3: Nice to See You!

You took the familiar path to Sai's apartment. At this point going to his home was second nature to you. You finally arrive at his flat when you notice something strange as you're twisting his doorknob...his door was locked. To any other person, this might be normal, but you know Sai. You've often scolded him about his stubbornness of keeping the door practically open, to which he'd always reply:
"Chill, (Y/n), I'm a former ANBU Black Ops member, whoever tries to break into my house is as good as dead." finishing with that smile of his.
You try not to, but your mind starts to rush to conclusions. "What if he's been kidnapped? What if he's going to leave the village like Sasuke did. Or even worse..." your mind trailed "what if he's with another girl! That's it, I'm breaking in!"
You started to pound at the door. "Sai!" You yelled. "You better open up in 3, or I'm kicking the door down!" Still no response. 'I guess I'm doing this' you thought. 'Please be fully clothed, please be fully clothed...'
"3!"
"2!"
"1!"
Just as you were swinging your leg the door opened, causing you to hurl right through the doorway and into a large object... which happened to be Sai. You were left on top of him, with your face in the carpet. "Ugh, sorry Sai," you say as you back away from the floor and face him. Your (eye color) eyes meet his black eyes, and you two maintain eye contact until Sai says "(Y/n)? You're squishing me.".
You break out in a plethora of apologies as you get yourself up and offer him a hand. "Thanks," He says to you, lifting himself up. "Now what was all that about?".
To your dismay, you find yourself blushing. "Um well, I just came back from my mission when Sakura came running up to me saying that you..." you faltered as you saw Sai's face, with his one eyebrow raised and cocky posture. He looked perfectly fine. You were just overreacting. "Ah- never mind," You told him. "Its probably just Sakura being weird, as usual.". You shoot him a smile, and he smiles back.

"That's Ugly for you, (Y/n). Speaking of which, I never did give you a nickname, did I?"

"No, I don't think you did. But considering your track record, I don't think I want one." you joke. "Hey, I've gotten pretty good at names," He retorted, and started to pout when he saw you raise your eyebrows questioningly. "No seriously, I don't even read any books anymore (well, mostly)! Nope, it's all experience now. Believe it!". You laugh at Sai in your head, knowing that he picked up on that phrase from Naruto.
"Yeah, I can tell," You say.
"I know it's been a while since we've properly talked, since, you know, I'm always busy as a Jonin and you're always on missions, but even in this small conversation I can see. You've really grown up, Sai!" You smile at him. "I'm proud of you.".

Sai looks away and blushes."T-thank you,(Y/n)." He says. Something grows in your chest, something you haven't felt in a long time. Seeing Sai go from the robotic, cold assassin to... this, it gave you hope for yourself too.
"Now come on, don't get soft on me Sai," you laugh. That's when you notice the black paint on Sai's hands and clothes. "Oh hey, have you been painting?". He nods. "Can I see it?" You ask.

For some reason, Sai's eyes widen, and he quickly says "No, (Y/n), I haven't finished it, it's really bad and-" He stops as you try to move past him, and he moves to try to block your view. You can see the corner of the painting a distance behind him, you just have to move a little bit more- but then Sai grabs your shoulders, which is really out of character for him.

Sai's POV: 'No! I can't let (Y/n) see my painting! She knows me too well, if she sees it she'll be concerned and ask about... and I don't want her to find out... Please, no.'

Back to (Y/n)'s POV:
"Look, (Y/n)," Sai bluntly states. "You have interrupted my painting, and I really need to get back to it, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave." he turns you around and starts pushing you towards the exit.
"Hey! Sai- hey! Stop!" You protest as he opens his door. "Bye, (Y/n). It was nice seeing you!". He gives you a genuine smile before shoving you out while closing (and locking) the door. You stare at the house in confusion and concern.

"Ok, something's definitely wrong.".

(780 words. Warning: sensitive topics mentioned in the next chapter. Proceed with caution.)