Sunlight warmed his skin as Sai crouched down on the dock. He still didn't understand why Yamato had insisted on stopping to camp in this cabin before continuing the mission. Everything about this was pointless. Team 7 didn't need a replacement for Sasuke, Sai could've completed this mission must faster alone. But the Fourth Hokage insisted upon the team's involvement, and who was he to disobey an order from Lady Tsunadae?

He didn't even think before his brush started to glide across the paper. Ink seeped into the page with every new line. Each stroke was a subtle release of the tension that had built up in his shoulders since arriving in Konoha. Art was his way of forgetting the way others treated him. Forgetting the things he had to do that no one could truly understand.

"Morning, Sai," your voice came from behind. Sai's hand faltered at the sudden interruption of his silence, causing a blotch of ink to stain the landscape he had started. The sound of that name caused an unnatural jump in his chest. It wasn't his. He had no name, he couldn't afford one. But coming from you, the name Sai felt a little more like it was his.