"It's hard to pretend you love someone when you don't, but...it's even harder to pretend you don't love someone when you do."

Sai could not help but stare at the way Naruto ate his ramen...did he even chew his noodles at all? He watched the bowls pile up and almost regretted telling Naruto it was his treat and to get how ever much he wanted. Yet...when you really looked at Naruto you could tell he was underweight; then again it was common knowledge in ROOT that the Kyubbi host wasn't widely accepted. Which is probably the reason he only eats ramen and lives in a shack away from the main village. Sai rummaged through his thoughts while staring at Naruto, it was amazing this kid could be so damn cheerful when, if you really look, his life has been pretty messed up. He has no family, basically lived alone and hated until he proved himself by becoming a ninja and even then a bunch of people hated him; his best friend and rival nearly killed him after completely betraying him and this village, and then you must think about what else has happened to him that no one even knows about...

Naruto slurped up his 12th bowl of ramen as he grinned contently, that was the most he'd eaten in a month's time. He sloppily wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he looked over at Sai, his grin wavering a tad when he saw the dark expression on his face. Had he done something wrong? Rarely did he ever see anything besides a fake smile on Sai's face, but now...he looked ready to kill and to tell the truth, it worried Naruto.

"U-Um...hey, Sai, you alright over there?"

He blinked as he stopped his road of thinking and forced his usual fake smile onto his pale face, "Of course, Naruto-kun. Hmm, are you finally done eating?"

Naruto still felt uneasy, though. He had his own mask he always wore, it was strange to think of his new team-mate to have one, too. He, himself, carried a mask because he doesn't want to seem weak and let people see that they had broken him...What was Sai's reasoning?

Sai stretched some as he stood before placing money on the table, "I'm taking your silence as a yes," he replied.

"O-oh yeah...gomen," he muttered as he also stood up. "So then, Sai...why'd chu want to treat me for ramen?"

"Tch, I can't ask a friend to hang out when they are feeling low? I mean...that is what your supposed to do to cheer a friend up, right?" he asked with a slightly confused face, looking at nothing as if he was trying to remember something.

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle some at the face that went with that question. Who would ask something that simple? He figured Sai was pretty anti-social, but come on...has he never had a friend before?

"Well...I guess so," he replied with a small smile as he playfully pushed at Sai's shoulder. "Where should we go then, weirdo?"

Sai stumbled for just a moment before straightening himself out, "I...um, well...where would you like to go?"

Naruto blinked as he thought for a little. Where did he want to go to? He can rarely go anywhere alone because the owners of places hate him. But considering the pain he had endured just the night before he wondered if Sai could...

"Hey...think we could go to the hot springs?" he asked, grinning.

Sai raised a brow, "Hmm, I guess that would be reasonable. Lead the way, Naruto-kun."

Naruto's grin widened as he practically marched all the way to the entrance of the hot springs, glancing back at Sai who was just taking his time. He was overjoyed to say the least. Even if he was naked it's not like Sai would be able to see above his neck once they entered the hot springs and as a precaution he could always cast a genjustu over himself so that no one would be able to see his scars and bruises that criss-crossed his abused body.

Finally he stood beside Naruto as he faked another smile, actually not knowing how to make a true one anymore. They shared eye contact for a quick moment before walking up and Sai paying for a private spring for the two of them. He liked his privacy and didn't think Naruto would mind some own privacy himself.

They both stood on opposite sides of a sliding wall that both opened to their hot spring. Each one undressed and performed a genjustu over their used bodies, neither knowing that the other had done the same thing. Sai wrapped a towel around his waist as he stepped out first, staring at the steam rise off the murky water filled with soothing minerals. He took a deep breath of the crisp air around him before hearing the door behind him slide open. He raised a brow as he looked back.

The whiskered-ninja walked out, towel just barely hanging upon his slender hips with hands stretched above him in a cat-like manner. Sai's eyes traveled down his tanned body that seemed too unmarred to be true. When their eyes meet he shivered slightly before turning back to the water, confused as to why he felt a sudden spark from looking at his friend.

Naruto barely noticed Sai standing there until their eyes had met and he was lost into the same, and yet different, onyx-tinted eyes that he was so used to seeing. He felt a sense of longing and a deep-seated pain before seeing those beautiful eyes turn away from him. He licked his chapped lips before walking over, his own eyes molesting what he could see of Sai's pale beauty.

Sai glanced over as he heard the soft footsteps of Naruto's stop beside him. He let a small smile trace his lips before slipping into the steamy water, moving his towel to the side; skillfully removing it without it getting wet or reveling himself in any way. Settling himself on the side beside a large rock he sunk down until you could only see his chin up as he allowed his eyes to rest.

Naruto blinked and smiled as he saw Sai close his eyes. He whipped his loose towel off and placed it on the side before jumping into the warm water with a rather loud 'YEAH!'

Sai braced himself for the vicious attack of hot spring water that erupted over his face when he heard Naruto yell. He spatted, wiping his face and hair as he scowled at the drenched Naruto that slowly emerged from the surface.

Naruto sweatdropped at Sai's face before swimming over, slowly resting beside him, "My bad."

Sai just rolled his eyes as he leaned against Naruto a tad, "It is quite alright...you could have warned me, though."

"Haha, but it wouldn't have been fun that way!"

Naruto smiled as he leaned back against Sai and rambled about nothing, just filling the empty silence that surrounded them. He hated the quiet, it allowed his mind to wonder over too many things that he didn't need to worry about nor remember.

Sai just closed his eyes, allowing Naruto's confident voice to fill his ears and soothe him. It wasn't often he was allowed this kind of pleasure, just to relax and not worry about eyes watching his every movement or about being jumped just to test his reflexes. He was tried of his life in ROOT and was content with how this mission was proceeding. Although...he wasn't supposed to grow close to anyone, he could lose his life if anyone from ROOT found out he was bathing with the Kyuubi vessel rather than going after Sasuke...

After a good hour and a half Sai and Naruto got out of the hot springs, recovering themselves with their towels as they went back into their dressing rooms.

Sai sighed as he pulled on his clothes after toweling himself dry. Slipping on his sandles he walked out and leaned against the paperthin wall beside Naruto's door, waiting for the knucklehead to come out.