You waited at the gate for about five minutes before you heard the ring of Sai's chakra nearing. He gave a strange smile before nodding. You nodded back and the two of you left the village.
You sprung through the forest at an incredible speed leaping from one bough to another, moving further and further away from the village. Your mind was calm and calculating only focused on the task in front of you - make it to (I/n) as soon as possible. You didn't slow your pace at all and you had almost forgotten that Sai was with you. It wasn't until he spoke that you remembered; by then the two of you had been on the move for about an hour.
"Excuse me."
You turned your head just barely enough to see Sai from the corner of your eye. You slowed yourself until you were next to him. You were quite a ways in front of him and though you could keep the same pace you were going before for a while, you doubted that Sai could. "This is going to be a problem. If Sai can't keep up with me then I'll have to slow down to match his speed, but I can't afford to take longer than needed to get to (I/n)."
"I can slow down if you need, however, in turn we will have to travel for a longer period of time with less breaks."
"That's not what I going to talk about." he paused a moment before continuing. "I was wondering how you feel about Kakashi."
You froze, though you kept moving. "Why is he bringing this up? This is a distraction that I don't need right now."
"Naruto said that you are Kakashi's girlfriend....I read in a book, that when people become partners, it's because they love each other. Do you love Kakashi?"
"What do my feelings for Kakashi have to do with this mission?" You kept your eyes ahead.
"Well, you didn't tell him about this mission and the book said that lovers shouldn't lie to each other. So...I was wondering if you really loved him or not."
"That is none if your business."
"Hmm, I thought that since we are on a mission together, we should become better acquainted.....slow poke."
You quirked a brow at the pale shinobi, turning your gaze to meet his.
"What?"
"S-sorry, was that not a good nickname? I seem to be very bad at this sort of thing. I guess I need more practice."
Your eyebrow arched higher. You stared at sigh for a few moment.
"I don't understand. What were you trying to do exactly?"
Sai looked at you before flashing a genuine smile, though you doubted that he noticed.
"I was trying to give you a nickname. I read in a book that nicknames make others feel more comfortable around you, but when I gave Sakura a nickname she didn't like it very much so I figured that nicknames should be the opposite of what I think."
"...And you came up with slowpoke?"
"Yes."
"You know...nicknames are usually someone's name shortened or simply something that reminds you of that person based on there personality or habits."
"Really?"
"Yes. For instance, you draw and paint a lot so my nickname for you might be Picasso since he too was a painter."
"Oh, I didn't think it was that simple. I'll keep that in mind."
"Do as you like."
After the chatter, the two of you became silent again. The sun was beginning to rise. Painting the sky with strokes of pink and purple. When the sky brightened completely, covering the purple and pink hues with bright yellow and sky blue. You moved through the brake at a steady pace while surveying the area.
