I always thought that Sai had a very strange appearance time in the anime/manga. Why was he introduced so late? There was a good chance earlier for him to join team Seven... so how would the flow of events be influenced if he did join just a little bit after Sasuke left?

Starts pre-Shippuden.

DISCLAIMER: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto, not me, though I do wish it did :/

A young boy knelt in a submissive pose in front of a standing, aged old man. The boy's skin was extremely pale, almost like an albino's, but when he opened his eyes one could see they were black instead of pink. His ink-black hair was newly cut after the boyish fashion of the day, to better blend in with the crowd. However, his jacket would have immediately marked him for an oddity, being cut far too high with one sleeve short and the other long. On his slightly rounded face was a tiny smile that was neither happy nor sad. He appeared to be around fifteen years of age, but looked younger in comparison to the scarred and heavily bandaged man in front of him.

"Uchiha Sasuke has left Konoha." The man said clearly. "He is a traitor to his village, seeking out its enemies to further his own powers." A single dark eye opened and fixed its gaze on the boy. "His teammates are slowly recuperating, but no missions will be sent out to recover the traitor for a couple of years."

"I don't understand, Danzō-sama." His young subordinate stated. "What is it exactly that you wish me to do?"

"As things stand, there is an open sport on the Kyuubi boy's team... he has displayed on several occasions clear intentions to go after his lost teammate. However, if he is ever brought back, it would be like bringing the snake straight into the mouse nest. Your job is to replace Sasuke on Team Seven, and see to it that he never comes back to the village alive."

The boy was silent, giving a small nod of acceptance. Apparently, the assassination order was not new to him, as he showed no panic about being told to kill someone. Soon, however, he spoke up.

"But sir... what is my name now?"

Danzō rubbed his chin thoughtfully, cane resting forgotten against his side. "Sai." he said at last. "For the duration of this mission, you shall be known as Sai."

"Sai..." The newly renamed boy murmured, half to himself. "Sai. Alright. I understand, Danzō-sama."

"There's one last thing that is vital to the success of this mission." Danzō paused for a long while, his expression distant. Finally, he sighed. "I was originally against it, but it must be done. It is likely that by the time you get the chance to face the Uchiha child, he will have furthered his powers immensely. Therefore, there is one jutsu you must utilize that will ensure his elimination even if you die."

"I'm willing to learn any jutsu necessary, sir." Sai said evenly. "If it is for the good of the village."

The dark brown eye appraised him, and then the withered hand raised, beckoning him closer. "You won't be learning this jutsu..."

Naruto mumbled in his sleep and hugged his pillow tighter. He was having a very pleasant dream that involved quite a few girls from his village, and his body simply refused to wake up when the sharp sound of a screechy window sliding open reached his ears. However, the draft that blew in could not be ignored. It was an early spring morning, and at that time it was still cold outside before the sun had time to warm up the earth. Eventually, his eyes opened and he sat up, grumbling and rubbing his eyes.

"Who opened the- whoa!" He bit off his sentence with a surprised exclamation. Sitting nonchalantly on the windowsill was a strange-looking pale boy with a cut off jacket. His feet were balanced expertly on the narrow space, legs bent froglike and hands on his knees. For a long, awkward second they stared at each other. The intruder didn't say anything. Naruto frowned at him. "Who the hell are you?"

The boy was silent. Naruto saw that his eyes were blacker than even Sasuke's, and disconcertingly, overwhelmingly... what? They were completely empty, and it was their emptiness itself that bothered the blonde boy so much.

'He should at least be apologizing for surprising me like that.' Naruto thought heatedly. 'Well, if he's come here for a fight, I'll take him on and win, believe it!'

"Is it customary..." the stranger began in an even tone, "For hospital patients to greet guests in their underwear?"

Naruto glanced downwards and was met with a very clean pair of blue and orange spotted boxers. With a yelp he snatched the sheets from his bed, trying to cover as much of himself as possible and hide his furious blush. However, when he looked back up, the stranger was gone.

Naruto stared at the space where the odd boy had just crouched. "What was that?" he muttered. "Waking me up, commenting on my underwear, and then leaving! God..." Throwing himself back on his bed, he stared at the ceiling. The sun slowly rose outside his window, but he paid it no heed. 'I woke up to that guy looking at me; does that mean he was sitting there for a long time already, just watching me? Why? That was creepy!'

"Ahh, I give up!" he cried in frustration, throwing his pillow at the ceiling. It caught on a lamp and stuck there. "This is so annoying, believe it!" As he climbed on his beside stand to retrieve the pillow, it occurred to him that he should put his jumpsuit back on. 'Why didn't I change earlier?' He fell back onto his bed, fully dressed. Sometime today, he'd be out of the hospital, and had a month and a half to spend going on missions and saying his good-byes to friends before Jiraiya was free to take him training. Team Kakashi just wouldn't be the same with only the three of them... but Naruto didn't mind. They all would get Sasuke back safe and sound, no matter how few of them there were.

'For once, I get Lee's mania to train and become stronger.' Naruto shifted underneath the sheets, restless. 'I have to become stronger in order to beat some sense into Sasuke.'

Two polite knocks came from behind the door. A kind-looking young nurse came in, pushing a cart with some fresh pajamas and sheets on it.

"You're good to go, Naruto-kun. I hope you have a pleasant day." she told him, amused as Naruto sprung out of bed with a loud whoop. His covers went flying as he waved a hasty good-bye and dashed out of the room.

He felt great- The sun was out with just a few clouds in the perfect blue sky, the temperature was perfect, the weather forecast promised a gorgeous day, he was off hospital food, and tomorrow he'd be back in training. By the time Naruto got home and had a cup of steaming hot instant ramen in front of him, he forgot all about the strange boy on his windowsill.

"Naruto, no." Sakura said firmly, trying to hold Naruto back by his arm as he kept inching towards Ramen Ichiraku.

"But Sakura-chan..." he whined. "Ramen!"

"You had a full bowl of it this morning! It's not even a healthy, balanced breakfast. If you keep this up, Naruto, you'll be like Choji!"

Instantly, Naruto froze, his eyes nervously darting from side to side. After a long minute, he relaxed.

"Don't even joke about that." he pulled free of her grip and began walking away from the ramen stand. "What if he were around? The lecture that Kakashi's going to give us for being late would be even worse if we showed up beaten half to death! Though we'd show him alright, show him how it feels having to wait for hours!"

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..." Sakura murmured apprehensively. "We're supposed to be getting a new teammate today. What kind of first impression are we going to make?" Her hand drifted up to her short hair and began curling a bubblegum-pink lock around one finger. Naruto fell silent, but only to enjoy the sight of her walking beside him. All of the sadness had left Sakura's emerald-green eyes now, and she the nervous look she wore was cute on her.

"You're looking great today, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said cheerily.

"Hm, yeah." To his disappointment, the kunoichi didn't register his compliment. They had reached training field three, where Team Seven held most of their on-site practices. The wide expanse of grass with three posts and the nearby memorial stone had become as familiar to them as the backs of their hands. One familiar, tall figure with spiky silver hair was already there, holding an orange book in one hand, single grey eye trained on the page. However, a second person was standing next to their sensei. As they got closer, Naruto saw too much pale skin, a short black jacket and neat black hair...

He stopped dead in his tracks. "It's you!" he cried, pointing an accusatory finger. The boy blinked his large black eyes, and then put on a small smile. "What were you doing yesterday, watching me like that?"

Sakura was looking between them curiously. Her gaze lingered on the new arrival's face instead of his clothes, studying his features intently. The boy kept smiling.

"I simply heard that one of my new teammates was in the hospital, so I wanted to come see what they looked like." His voice was as Naruto remembered it- cool, soft, and mature.

Gradually, Naruto's anger ebbed. "Well, you could have introduced yourself earlier..."

"And I must say," the stranger continued, "I saw far more than I intended to. Do you wear such extravagant underwear to compensate for whatever's beneath?"

Kakashi, in the middle of turning a page, stilled his hand and looked up. Sakura let loose a tiny giggle, then saw Naruto's expression and immediately leaped for grab his arms.

"No, Naruto!" she cried for the second time that day. Except now, her job was much harder; Naruto was straining to get free, his tomato red face contrasting sharply with his spiky blonde hair.

"Now, now, children..." Kakashi stuffed the well-worn copy of Icha Icha into a pocket and raised his hands in a placating manner. "Calm down... Let's all introduce ourselves, okay? I am Hatake Kakashi, the jounin leader of Team Seven. I, er, like... certain books... and things. I dislike... other things. My favourite colour is, um, any colour."

Sakura gave the newcomer a harried, but friendly enough grin. "I'm Haruno Sakura! I enjoy flowers, boys, and the colour pink, and I really hate this guy right here!"

Naruto stopped struggling. "Aww, but Sakura, you're holding me so close to you!" he teased, and she let go of his arms as if burned. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, the colour orange, Sakura-chan, and I'm going to be Hokage if it's the last thing I do! And I've a best friend named Sasuke, who I'm going to bring back to our team no matter what, believe it!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Naruto's lack of tact. 'It's not very nice to say something like that in front of a new team member.' he reflected. 'Then again, this is Naruto we're talking about... I should have expected...'

"My name is Sai." The newest member said. "I..." he paused. "I suppose I enjoy drawing. I like the colour black, and I don't dislike anything."

Sakura made a face. "Black's not a colour!" she protested. "Pick something brighter, like red, or blue!" Sai's eyes flickered to her, then stayed there, looking her over as if noticing her for the first time. A faint blush crept across her cheeks. 'Oh god, he's staring at me... with those intense eyes...' 'What are you thinking?'Inner Sakura demanded. 'Smile at him! Wink! I told you we should have worn something more flattering today!'

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind, ugly."

Smack. Before either Kakashi or Naruto could react, Sakura had delivered a lightning-fast slap to Sai's face, sending him staggering backwards.

Aghast, Naruto simply gaped at his crush, while Kakashi sighed and turned to Sai. The boy seemed unruffled by Sakura's violent reaction to his candid comment. Naruto was about to offer him a hand when he remembered the underwear comment, and stuck both his hands in his pockets. Kakashi stuck out his hand, but Sai shook his head and got up. The jonin's keen eye noted his stiffness, as if every move the boy made pained him.

"Perhaps you hit him a little too hard, Sakura." Kakashi suggested helpfully, although he knew full well that wasn't the case. He knew a seasoned shinobi when he saw one, and knew that a little slap could not deal that much damage. Also, Sai seemed to be favouring his back, not rubbing his slightly red cheek. Sakura, however, didn't come to any such conclusions.

"Hmph! He deserved it!" She snorted, but then she saw Sai wince as he finally regained his footing. A fraction of contempt left her voice. "Hey, I didn't really hit you that hard, did I?"

Sai shook his head and reapplied his smile. "Do not worry yourself. I'm simply a little sore from the mission I had yesterday, before being reassigned to this team. I hope to work well with all of you in the future, and hope that I can be a satisfactory replacement for Sasuke Uchiha."

Mentally, Kakashi facepalmed. His new student seemed to have a talent for saying the exact wrong things at the worst of times. Naruto and Sakura both became very quiet. To the jonin's further dismay, Sakura's eyes began to glimmer and Naruto's fists clenched.

"Alright!" Kakashi's cheerful tone was forced. "How about we all go out for some dinner together?"

"I would like that." Sai replied, and turned to his teammates. "I assume that is what you did when that traitor Sasuke was still here? Go out for dinner, and the like?"

"Don't talk like you're him." Naruto growled. "We're only going out to dinner with you this once because you're new, and the only reason I'm not hitting you like Sakura did is because you're still new. But this isn't going to happen ever again, got it? We're going to go bring Sasuke back, and you're going to shut the hell up and go back to wherever you came from, you and your stupid fake smile."

"My, my." Sai wasn't smiling now. "You seem to harbour unusually strong feelings about someone who hurt your closest friends and joined the enemy for his own selfish purposes."

Sakura's eyes flamed, and she raised her hand. Sensing a fight coming, Kakashi swiftly stepped in between them.

"That's enough." he stated. "We're wasting time arguing, and the barbeque restaurant is holding a special today. Let's go."

Sai closed his apartment door behind him, looking around. Last night, he'd been far too tired to decorate his new living space. For some reason, the empty walls bothered him immensely. He imagined filling up the featureless wood with framed pictures of his own making. He imagined waking up for once in a room by himself, without any Foundation members crashing on the couch or on sleeping mats on the floor. Moonlight streamed through the open window, casting a bright silvery rectangle onto an old, cream-coloured rug. Sai crossed the room, sitting at a desk. He picked up his brush, dipped it into ink, and let it hover above a blank page.

A wind blew through the window, ruffling his hair. Sai shifted in his seat, and then suddenly a spasm of pain shot through his body, emnating from his back. The brush dropped onto the page and made a large blot.

With clenched teeth, Sai got up and shuffled over to his bed before collapsing upon it. Gradually, the pain faded away underneath the coolness of the mattress, and he relaxed. Everything would be fine by tommorow, if he took it easy. However, it was slightly inconvenient, this new... Sai closed his eyes. 'Danzō-sama's orders are law.' he thought. 'I shall follow them without question or complaint, no matter what they may be... after all, I am simply a tool to help him protect the village. If this is how he ordains it, then this is how it must be.'

Yet the last thing upon his mind before he drifted off to sleep was not the mantra of the Foundation, but the angry faces of the two genin that he had to work with from then on.

Well, fairly short chapter, but I wanted to get things going. How was it? I hope I'm getting them all in character- as far as I know, pre-Shippuden Sakura still had inner Sakura, and Naruto still said 'dattebayo' (believe it!) a lot.

Any questions, predictions, mistakes you spotted, comments, or stuff you'd like to see in future chapters (even though I have things planned, suggestions help me incorporate things that I forget)- answer in a review! =)