Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and stand to gain no profit from this fic.

Summary: When Sakura and Sai get separated from the rest of their team, they must find a way to co-exist and work out their issues.

A/N: Rated M for really sour lemons.

Sai of Relief

j.j. scriptease

Sakura knew she was losing her mind when Sai started looking more and more like Sasuke. Pale skin that sent the sun scampering back into the clouds. Dark eyes that carried tragedies of the past. The lack of facial muscles to express the full spectrum of human emotion. She hardly cared for dabbling into the mystery of Sai, but after days trudging through endless trees, she had to entertain herself somehow.

"You're staring," said Sai. He sensed it without glancing in her direction.

It was the first time he opened his mouth in two hours. Not that it bothered Sakura; making conversation with him tended to be more awkward than keeping the silence. His complexion and personality shared the same shade of grey. A surprise attack on Team Kakashi had scattered the squadron, and somewhere out there Lady Luck was chortling in her face. Why, oh why, did she have to get stuck with Sai?

His biggest achievement had to be making her miss Naruto's company. At least with him she could expend her boredom by finding things to berate him about. All Sai did was look disappointed to be alive, smile like he'd downed one too many soldier pills or bury his gormless face in ridiculous books. Groaning at the acres of trees and shrubbery up ahead, Sakura succumbed to boredom.

"Okay, what are you reading?"

He lifted an eye from the page to consider there was another person in his presence. "You really want to know?"

"Of course not. Look around – it's either talk to you or talk to the trees. At least they don't smile back."

Right on cue, he unbridled that stupid, exaggerated grin. "You're funny."

It wouldn't have been the first time someone thought that before she punched them in the face. "You're exasperating."

"How's your love life?"

"What?"

"You wanted to know what I'm reading." He held up the book. "It says here, engaging in small talk can help build rapport between teammates. It suggests asking males about sports and females about love related topics."

"Oh really?" She rolled her eyes. "It sounds like a pile of uninformed, stereotypical crap."

"Maybe so. But it could still be a useful exercise. So, Sakura, are there any boys you think about?"

"Are there any wha…? I, er, I, what?" Her cheeks turned pink.

"Are there any boys you long to be with intimately?" he asked as if it was no more personal than wondering what she had for breakfast.

"Sai, I'm not going to answer that!"

"Do you ever dream about them?"

"Shut up."

"How often do you engage in masterba-" He was sent flying headfirst through a dozen trees before he could finish that sordid question.

"I said shut up!" Sakura's fist was still trembling with indignation.

Droning in agony, he woke up with a bruise for every stupid statement he'd made. "You're the one who asked…"

"Yeah, well, clearly it was a mistake."

"Do you hate me?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Gee, what gave it away?"

"It's because I called you ugly, isn't it?"

As much as she'd have loved to claim she was above holding grudges, some things were unforgivable: namely, calling a girl ugly to her face, and calling Ino anything but. "Just shut up and keep walking, Sai."

She hoped they bumped into the others soon. Kakashi would know what to do, where to go. She wondered where he and Naruto were now. For all she knew, they could already be back at Konoha waiting, or out there somewhere, searching for them, contemplating the same dilemma.

Worry settled in her depths as the sunlight filtering through leaves began to wane. At their current pace, they wouldn't get anywhere before noon tomorrow, let alone nightfall. She asked Sai to animate a large bird to cover more distance. However, the last scuffle left him short on chakra; he doubted he'd sustain the jutsu and preferred to keep reserves for any would-be bandits out there. Plan B was to tree-hop the rest of the way. It worked, until night blanketed the terrain, impairing their ability to land on safe branches. Thankfully they were equipped to camp out the darkness. The journey would have to continue first thing in the morning.

Sakura dismembered a tree and had a fire going in less than half an hour. They sat on opposite sides of the warmth, eating dinner in the form of portable rations.

Some team this was. Aside from minor physical traits, Sai was nothing like Sasuke, she decided. The fact the team had been divided spoke volumes of its shortcomings. The remodelled Team 7 simply failed to operate as a unit. A learning curve was to be expected, just like the original team, but things were different, she wasn't as enthusiastic or optimistic. Sasuke's absence was discouraging, as it had been for years now. She missed him. She missed Naruto. She missed Kakashi. She missed everyone. Sai's personality disorder wasn't something he could help, and sometimes she felt bad for taking her frustrations out on him, but she wasn't the type to keep her emotions bottled up.

As she mused over the hapless predicament, Sai worked on a drawing he'd been fixated on the past hour.

"Can I see what you're sketching?" she asked, bravely.

He turned the page for her viewing pleasure.

Sakura was blown away. There, held up above the crackling flames, was the portrait of a stunning lass. With nothing but black ink and parchment, he'd captured her personality, the glamour in her eyes, her cunning and ensnaring smile, every detail down to the hairs on her eyebrows and the shape of her lips. Unfortunately, it was perfect. Ino would be over the moon.

"You don't like it?" asked Sai. "You've been staring for over a minute but haven't said anything."

The problem was she did like it, at least for its artistic value. He transformed a pig into a goddess. A harsh flashback slapped her in the face: Sai complimenting Ino on her looks shortly after painting her with the 'ugly' brush. Sakura had half the mind to toss the work into the fire. Not that it would stop half the men in the village from fawning over her blonde counterpart.

"So you think Ino will like it then?" Sai wondered. "She asked me to draw it for her."

"I don't see why not," said Sakura. "Can't go wrong with anything that boosts her ego. She'll probably hang it up at the flower shop."

Sai looked pleased with that possibility.

She yawned.

"Shall I take first watch?" he asked.

"I'll do it," said Sakura.

Sai knew better than to argue, lest he wound up in the fire. He settled into his sleeping bag as she took to a high branch, leaning back against the tree trunk. Patrol suited her well that night; her thoughts were keeping her up anyway. She got lost in the silver moon, musing about home, about familiar faces, about decent food, and about that damned sketch of Ino-pig.

…

Sakura crinkled her face as the sun warmed her eyelids. Groaning, she propped onto her elbows and scanned the vicinity through groggy eyes. Scorched logs lay dead where a campfire once brew. Sai's sleeping bag was abandoned. Judging by the sun's height and location, it had to be an hour or two before midday, more crucially, an hour or two later than they'd agreed to set off.

Damnit, Sai! He should've saved her from oversleeping.

She balled her fist, ready to punch him, but since he wasn't there, the nearest tree had to do.

He'd left his bag and sketchbook behind so he couldn't have gone far. She avoided calling out, avoided unwanted attention; a fist fight for breakfast didn't sound all that appetising. Rather, she picked a direction at random and tree-hopped praying for good fortunate. Where did that pasty idiot go now? She gritted her teeth, hoping he hadn't landed himself in hot water.

Sakura noticed fog clouding the trees in the eastern region. Considering nothing else grabbed her attention, she made an abrupt change of course.

She drew closer and realised the vapour was rising, the air thickening, growing hotter and hotter. She spotted what it looked like rags draped over a branch. Landing next to them, she identified Sai's clothes immediately, and sure enough, within the large clearing in view, a shrouded figure basked in a breath-taking hot spring.

Although the wisps of vapour obscured his nudity, she felt like a creep just for being in the position she found herself in. God, her body needed a good wash though, after bumbling through the jungle for over a week. She needed it badly. But not bad enough to embarrass both of them by showing up. She'd double back and wait her turn. Before she could leap away however, the sound of his voice paralyzed her, body twitching in awkwardness.

"Sakura! You're up!" he shouted. "Sorry to leave you alone like that. I thought I'd be back by now."

"Oh, that's alright!" she shouted back over her shoulder. Really, she wanted to berate him for not leaving a note or something, but she couldn't stomach turning around to face him. "I'll be heading back to camp now and –"

"What? You're going back? Why? Come in, the water here is rather pleasant."

She pulled a face of horror. He really was clueless about social conventions, probably didn't even realise what he was suggesting. "Uh, it's okay, Sai." She chuckled nervously. "I can wait until you're done."

"I don't know when I will be done. Besides, we are running behind schedule. You really want to waste more time?"

She grumbled. Maybe if he'd woken her up, they wouldn't be behind schedule. "I don't know, Sai. I can't come in right now."

"Why not?"

"Because you're there?"

"So?"

She tilted her head and made an incredulous expression. Did he really not get it? "Sai, you're…you're…" There was no decent way to put it. "Naked."

"Oh."

And for the first time, silence between them was awkward.

Until Sai's persistence shone through. "This is a very big hot spring. We don't even have to look at each other. No need to be embarrassed."

Wow, thought Sakura, if she hadn't known any better, she'd think he was a perv trying to lure her in. But not Sai, surely? If those words came out of any other guy's mouth, she wouldn't entertain them for a second. Certainly not Naruto. Not even Kakashi Sensei. But Sai was so different to other guys, to other human beings, that it wasn't a stretch to presume he wouldn't try anything funny.

Sakura shrugged. What the heck? Not like she couldn't defend herself even if he surprised her. "Okay then." She dropped down from the tree. "No looking!"

She approached fully dressed, partly to test him, partly for her own reservations. At the edge of the surrounding rock, she made him out through the steam. Only his shoulders and the back of his head broke through the surface. She waited for a whole minute to see if he'd turn around. Not so much as a twitch in her direction. Satisfied, Sakura stepped out of her boots. Her headband followed suit, then her socks, her sleeveless jacket, her skirt, shorts, bra and finally, her underwear slipped into the pile. Despite the heat rising all around her, she had to shake off the shivers from being nude in the presence of a guy who also happened to be nude. It was the first time she didn't anticipate sex from such a situation, and yet somehow, it was even more nerve-wracking. She ventured into the waters, warmth climbing further and further up her body, levelling at her neck. It felt safe and revitalising, and soon, Sai was a forgettable part of the furniture.

They enjoyed the bath at opposite ends of the hot spring, backs turned to one another, at least Sakura could only assume so without a visual. Paranoia prodded at her gut the more she contemplated things. Nothing was stopping him from ogling her right now and she'd never know it. Suddenly, she whipped her head over her shoulder. He was looking firmly in the opposite direction, pouring water down his arms. She returned to minding her own business when an itch compelled her to check again. He was still ignoring her. The pattern continued, nothing changed. She realised if someone was watching from a distance, they'd think she was the one peeping on him. His disinterest should've settled her concerns, instead it rustled her feathers. She bet if Ino was in her place he wouldn't be able to keep his eyes to himself. In an outburst of petulance, she rose out of the depths, water trickling past her knees.

"Hey," she said, fists pressed against her hips. He hummed along as if he hadn't heard her. "Incoming bandits at 9 o'clock!"

"Where?" He jumped out of the water, panicked, and spun in her direction.

Sakura swallowed a gasp as her plan came to fruition. She'd been so brash and sure of herself until his eyes fell upon her body. When the reality of her actions hit her, it was too late to hide a thing. She hung in the cold heat, exposed, embers flaring her cheeks. His stunned reaction mirrored hers, mouth open in frozen shock. The only parts of his body capable of movement were his eyes. Inch by inch, they journeyed southward, moving in slow motion while her heart pounded in fast forward. She shivered slightly under the scrutiny she'd subjected herself to. Her gaze took a journey of its own down south; at first, it was hard to distinguish his complexion from the steam, but a shape started to form through the clouds. It grew larger, more distinct, thicker, longer. And longer. It jutted up at attention. Sakura raised her brows in disbelief.

His hands enveloped the erection, stealing it from view.

Satisfaction lifted a corner of her lips. "I knew you didn't really think I was ugly." Surprisingly, it exhilarated her to discover that part of his anatomy operated 'normally'. "Tell me what you really think, Sai."

He gazed at her chest, dumbstruck, and finally said, "Ino's are bigger."

Sakura roared and the flames in her eyes almost burned down the forest. She marched at him, stomping through the water with heated fists. Scared for his life, he threw his forearms up, barriers protecting his face. It didn't stop Sakura. Her arms reached forwards, hands chomping at his neck like pincers, but before she could get a foot within range, her abdomen bumped into a blunt object. Glancing down, Sakura gaped at the bulbous head pressing into her belly button. The shaft extended so far it disappeared in a cloud of steam before she could discern where it joined his body.

"Sai…" Words failed to find her lips, her anger a distant memory.

It was the first time any kind of colour surfaced on his face. He turned around, embarrassed. "S-Sakura, don't come any closer! This is not appropriate for teammates."

Don't come any closer? She'd just glimpsed the biggest dick she'd ever seen in her life. And her very own teammate. Who would've thought?

Her body pressed against his back as a curious hand reached around his waist. He grabbed her wrist but they both knew he'd need a better plan than that to counter her strength. "I won't hurt you. I just want to see," she said, gently. "Teammates do this kind of thing all the time."

"Really?" He stopped resisting and tried to imagine it. "So that means you and Naruto…?"

She was a little hesitant. "Well, yes, once or twice." A week. "But that arrangement has nothing to do with this. We're not bound to each other, it's only physical." Naruto wasn't the only guy either and she wasn't the only girl. Wait, why was she bothering trying to explain a friends-with-benefits relationship to him? He barely understood friendship on its own.

"How come you never let me in on this before?" asked Sai.

For one, he didn't need to know. Two, he never seemed interested in that kind of thing. Three, she never knew what he was packing. "What does it matter? We're here now, aren't we?"

"It appears so. However –"

"God, Sai! Could you drop the annoying questions for one second?" She was trying to get off here.

Her fingers coiled around his cock. He winced. She apologised and loosened her grip, a cool reminder to keep her strength in check. Her palm slid on the underside of his shaft, relishing the rugged, smooth texture she hadn't sampled in days. If she didn't miss Konoha before, she was dying of homesickness now. She longed for the buzz of civilisation, the therapy of casual conversation, the touch of intimacy. The first two were beyond grasp in the wild, but the last, well, maybe she could work up some crude remedy. As she stroked him, the erection hardened in her palm. She felt the throbs and bumps of engorged veins. Poking her head under his arm, she fashioned a bird's eye view of the action, watching herself handle his excitement. She couldn't get over how was long it was, if not on the thin side, a personification of his stature. No wonder he made fun of Naruto.

Sakura stretched her arm to its limit to reach the tip. She dabbed on the pre-cum and rubbed it between her fingers. Warm, sticky and appetising. She spread it on his cock and pumped, granted, it didn't provide lubricant in abundance. The water helped but it was too lightweight. Thankfully, she had the perfect lubricant in mind, one she'd been dying to use for the past few minutes. He watched in bemusement as she knelt level before him, looking his cock in the eye.

"I bet Ino can't do this," said Sakura, before taking him into her mouth.

Her tongue worked him like a Popsicle. His moans refused to stay down. She loved it. She loved watching his expression go through the motions while she sucked him off. The remnants of pre-cum flavoured his dick and she lapped it up hungrily, licking around his girth, leaving no trace, popping her mouth on and off his tip. She took a moment to pace herself and savour the tang of cock on her taste buds. It had been far too long.

She batted her lashes. "You like that, hm? Am I better than Ino?" she asked, tapping his dick on her tongue. "Want some more, big boy?" She didn't wait for an answer.

Sakura jerked her head up and down his cock, basking it in heat, coating it in saliva. She used the lubricant to ease the friction, fist pumping his shaft while her tight mouth complimented its rhythm. Sai's face was pink with ecstasy. Pleasure dripped from his lips, genuine joy spread across his features for once. Sakura moaned on his cock, the tastiest meal she'd had in days, and used her free hand on her cunt. As the pace hastened, she found herself yearning to claim more, but she could barely take in half his length without her gag reflex making things uncomfortable. How did it all fit in those pants so inconspicuously? She insisted on deepthroating, and if his murmurs were any indication, he appreciated it. She didn't stop until any dream he had about Ino would be replaced with her performing fellatio. The ache throbbing at her core became increasingly difficult to subdue by her own hand. She grabbed his cock like a leash and led him to shore.

Sakura reclined on the rocky edge, sizzling beneath her ass, and spread her legs like a gymnast. He bumbled forward, confused of what was expected. She beckoned him closer with a finger, and then reeled him in by the nape, lowering his breath onto her snatch. "Lick."

His tongue was clumsy and unpredictable, but her heat had spread just about everywhere, making any contact desirable. Her fingers combed through his hair and guided him down her wet avenue. She helped by lifting her ass off the hot surface and rotating her hips, smearing honey round the bottom half of his face. He learned quickly enough. Every time her body jittered, he revisited the spot that caused it with extra tenacity. Her thighs quivered against his cheeks, a struggle between convulsing with pleasure and resisting the impulse to pancake his head. As she lolled back, her iron grip prevented him from pulling away, ensuring he repaid her deepthroat efforts with interest, even if he incurred a few seconds of musky suffocation. Sakura stole his exaggerated grin.

Sai stepped back, a look of shock on his face, still doubting the reality of what was happening. A hapless, little boy. Except, not so little. She found courage in his uncertainty, the sense of overturning a longstanding deficit, ready to dare him to call her ugly right then. As he gawked at her toying with her pink nub, she knew he couldn't do it. He'd cut her down with harsh words but now all the power dripped from her fingertips. The power to leave him in the cold, to torture him with no reprieve or . . . to make him her bitch. By the time she finished with him, that Ino portrait would be as good as toilet paper. Grinning, she tugged on his cock, eliciting a gasp.

Sakura eased him inside her. She'd taken on a few dicks in her lifetime but felt the need to savour this rarity. A low purr rumbled in her throat as her gash stretched to accommodate him and inch after inch filed through the orifice.

"Sa-Sakura-chan…" He grunted. "It's so t-tight . . . and warm," he said, as if he weren't standing in a boiling hot spring. She took it as a compliment.

The mechanics of sex came natural to Sai. He pumped away, enjoying the warmth he'd so readily described. She moaned as the blunt force reached inside her. It was a tentative rhythm, and despite the sensation of being filled over and over again, she felt he was holding back. She urged him to get more aggressive, if not by words, then by actions. Her legs wrapped around his hips, calves pushing on his buttocks, hauling him in. That was more like it, breathed Sakura, as he lifted her off the surface, ass floating in mid-air while he stuffed her with cock. His mouth hung agape, spilling uncontrollable moans, a reaction she succumbed to in tandem. He kept it going for a good few minutes. Ah, the stamina of a shinobi. Even so, Sakura was insatiable.

She hunched over the edge, legs parted, gifting him the sight of her peachy ass and then some. Reaching down, she spread her folds, revealing a hot, pink bull's-eye dripping with lust. "Hurry up." It was an order. Sai entered nice and slow but she wouldn't have that. "I want all of it." What was the point of packing a schlong if you couldn't use it?

"Sakura-chan. I don't think that's a good . . . I don't want to hurt you."

"All of it," she reiterated without skipping a beat. "Now."

Sai murmured his reluctance but knew better than to test her patience. All at once, he shoved his entire length up her tight gash.

Sakura cried out as the ram hit her cervix. He asked if she was okay. Between laboured breaths, she said she'd never given him permission to stop. Sai proceeded to pound her without reservation. She squealed in pain and ecstasy as strong, sharp jabs tore through her walls and thumped her barrier. Thrilling cunt force trauma. She loved every inch of that long, beautiful dick of his. The thrusts sent her heart flailing and her small breasts hopping. She felt the waves ripple around her shins and the steam engulf them whole, two bodies clashing again and again, flesh smacking, moans soaring. She twisted her neck to look upon his face, upon the emotion-rich expression no one had been able to drag out of him. She was about to make this pasty, coldblooded dimwit explode with hot cum. Beat that, Ino. Sensing her own climax fast approaching, Sakura spurred it on, rubbing her clit to toe-curling effect. Lurid juices gushed out the corners of her slit, dousing his cock with an intense orgasm. Sai followed suit, sure to pull out before hosing down the small of her back.

The hot spring offered the means to clean up, after which they got dressed in privacy.

"Let's go," said Sakura, packing up the last of her things at the campsite.

"Yes," said Sai.

The journey continued.

Since Sai was an expert at detaching his emotions, and Sakura wrote off the romp as nothing more than a quick fix, everything between them resumed to normal on the surface. Part of her wasn't convinced it had even happened. She would've never considered it if not for the dramatic turn in this mission, but Sai made for an apt fuck buddy. Discrete, unemotional, well-endowed – she ticked off all the checkboxes. She could almost see herself volunteering to be with him next time the team had to split up. However, one thing still lingered at the back of her mind…

"Sai, do you really think I'm ugly?"

He pulled off his exaggerated, trademarked grin. "No, Sakura-chan. Of course not."

END