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People like people who compliment them. Or so Sai hears. It has gotten him into trouble more often than not—the hazards of complimenting Sakura’s forehead, or Shino’s ability to walk around unseen—but Sai has calculated the pros and cons, concluding that the benefits outweigh the risks.
People like people that compliment them. And if people like you, they will be your friend. Or, at least, not make an outright enemy of you, Sai concludes, smiling indulgently at Naruto as he slurps at his Ichiraku noodles.
Sai should have concluded that he was bad at math.
Naruto sighs and sets down his bowl, stabbing a chopstick at the air in front of Sai’s face. “You’re really creepy, ya know?”
“Am I?” His own untouched ramen sloshes as Sai pushes it aside, resting his head on his elbows. “This from the man with a demon fox in his stomach.” Sai smiles wide. “How many tails are you eating for today? Two? Five?”
“Oi.” This time Naruto does poke Sai with his chopstick. Right in the forehead, just as Sasuke does to Sakura, in moments when they think no one is looking.
A bead of broth drips down the bridge of his nose, over the rim of his mouth. Sai doesn’t falter, only takes it as a sign of affection. From the future Hokage, with Love, he thinks, licking the savory juices from his lips. “Rude,” he lazily comments. It would be a lecture if he meant it.
“Eh?” Naruto blinks. Then he squints at Sai, poking him again. “Yeah, rude. That’s what ya get. Don’t talk shit about Kurama, ya hear me? Or else, I really will kick your ass, ya know.”
“I understand.” He does. In fact, he quite likes that demon fox.
“Good!” Naruto huffs. He goes back to his noodles, and is humming cheerfully in moments, disregarding Sai, and that just won’t do.
“I understand that you have a fixation with my ass.”
“W-W-” The chopsticks splinter in Naruto’s hand.
Sai grins guilelessly. “You have good taste.”
“WHAAAAAAAAAAAT!?”
In the end, Sai ends up paying for a broken table, a ruined booth, and both of their meals.
"A successful first date," He later declares, hand in Naruto's back pocket.
Naruto absolutely, vehemently, one hundred percent, disagrees with the assessment.