Painted Butterflies

Sai stopped his flight through the treetops just before re-entering the village. Still shaken up, he didn't trust himself to make even the minimal conversation necessary to reenter the front gates.



He perched carefully in the highest branches, running through the events of the morning in his mind. He had thought forming a bond with the silent, nature loving shinobi would be relatively easy. Shino never reacted to Sai in the irritated, violent way that most of his comrades did. Actually, Shino never reacted to much of anything at all.



Sai's face dropped to his hands as the extent of the disaster sunk in. The butterfly. Sai had frightened away Shino's treasured butterfly. And the resulting emotion would, of course, be fury.



At least he had the scroll to make amends... "Surely, Shino will be happier with me after I show him that I..." Sai felt around his art pouch for the scroll.



Gone. The scroll was gone.



Elsewhere, Shino gazed up into the canopy of the Valley of Death, deep within its confines, unsure exactly which way was in and which was out, but all the more tired of thinking. His butterfly, HIS butterfly had vanished, lost once again to this unforgiving greenhouse of despair, lost to his victorious hands, now victimized in their solitude. He slowly slid his shades of the bridge of his nose, blinking hazel eyes at forest green, trying everything he knew how to keep himself calm. Whatever remaining kikaichu that were in his body, those who depended on for life, needed not to be roused any further into aggravation; that would lead to serious danger.



Dropping his hand to the floor with the glasses in its grip, he instinctively flexed his other hand, a precaution he never understood why he used. In this other hand was the scroll that belonged to Sai, before he dropped it to the forest floor in such a careless manner. He couldn't understand Sai's uncharacteristic behavior, for he had always admired that the forever-grinning ex-ROOT member always took so much pride in protecting his precious belongings, especially his scrolls and all art supplies. He carried his art supplies with him everywhere, neatly aligned in a separate pouch. Pencils, from extra-fine to extra-bold, sat tight in the front pouch, pens of equal width the second; papers of a multitude of textures and colors snuggled in the main pocket, and various other art tools on the side. And he never allowed anyone to touch that pouch, even glaring Naruto down once when he poked at it. "Privacy, Naruto, have I asked for anything else?" Sai's normally cheerful banter chilled into an icy, ominous roar that rivaled Sasuke at his best. Needless to say, no one ever touched his art pouch, or any of his art that was not offered over with his characteristic smile from that moment on.



But, the scroll couldn't leave his mind. It was too odd, too peculiar for Sai to drop anything, much less a scroll. And what was it that Sai wanted from him in the first place? Why had he called Shino so many times, and was there concern in his voice towards the final words? Had he been excited by something? What was he thinking? What was in the scroll? Why had he been so eager to bring it?



"Why am I thinking about him? He lost my butterfly... I should be angered... Enraged... Furious... But, the disappointment in his eyes..." Shino gripped the bridge of his nose, irritated by his mental arguing. He couldn't possibly be concerned for someone who caused the desolation of a dream so close. But, yet, he still wondered, curious of why Sai would leave with no words. Curious of what could injure his emotions. Curious of where he was right at this moment. Curious of what was in that scroll...



Without the slightest notion of acknowledgment to what he was doing, Shino dropped his glasses to his side and proceeded to slip off the cover of Sai's scroll. His hands trembled with a small hint of excitement as he unraveled the fine, yet sandy, aged paper that Sai only drew his most prized pieces on, for the added effect of the sacred paper. Shino's uncovered eyes slowly fell upon the contents of Sai's work, and his mouth fell open in awe.



"...What have I done..."



Without another thought, Shino sprang from his rest, scroll in hand, off in whatever direction he felt led home. His kikaichu would catch up later. He had other pairs of glasses. He had to find Sai. Now.



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Sai wandered about his apartment, now in disarray at his tantrum that he through just moments ago. Nothing was important to him now; none of his art compared. His prized work of beauty, the one piece that could have graced Sai with a never-seen smile from the Aburame, was gone, probably lost somewhere in the forest to which he knew he'd never return. Not after...



Sai shook his head hard. He didn't want to think about it again.



The sun was well enough high in the sky at this point, meaning his time to meet Sakura and Ino had come long ago. He didn't have the spirit to see the two girls though, now most assuredly worthy of nicknames such as 'beautiful' and 'lovely', if not all well deserving of 'bitchy' and 'irritating-as-fuck'. However, from the numerous beatings he had received from every female shinobi in the village, including Tsunade, Anko and even those messenger nin from time to time (well, not the soft-spoken one with the hair always covering his right eye, but the bad-mouthed one who wore the bandage over his nose and cheeks, and constantly whispered 'fuck' to his soft-spoken friend, who would always whimper in delight... Sai never understood why...), Sai knew all too well to never use a nickname on anyone again, whether pleasant or pejorative. Apparently, nicknames were not as friendly as he had previously thought...



Sai sat on his bed, curious of what he could do to make it up to the silent shinobi who had only just noticed a few weeks prior. He had accompanied him, his dog-like partner, and the ever-stuttering kunoichi on a routine mission to return a misplaced box to a priestess far off in a village in the swamps. Shino's close friend, Kiba was his name, and his close friend's dog, Akamaru, attempted every trick they knew in order to find out what was inside the sealed box, all the while Shino kept them at bay, always a step ahead of the two. The bug shinobi at one point even trusted the box to Sai himself, as Shino went to a nearby lake to bathe, where Sai noted that he had an impressive length that would explain the baggy, loose clothing But, more than that, Sai had genuinely enjoyed Shino's company, reveling in the thought that maybe he did have one real friend in Konoha. And, while no one could ever tell for sure what the stoic man was thinking, he liked to believe that Shino didn't mind his company either.



Which made scaring the butterfly and losing the scroll so much more painful. He had meant to show Shino the scroll later, after he had successfully, or otherwise, captured the butterfly. But, when he saw him lying motionless, knowing that Shino did say that the insect was unverified and unknown, he thought his friend had been harmed and rushed to his aid. Only... He only added to his pain...



"...What have I done..." Sai fell back on his one pillow, looked up at his inked ceiling, and sighed solemnly, a tear rolling down burdened cheeks.