Finally Free

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Sakura sighed as she left the hospital. A breeze whirled around her and she clutched her arms in an attempt to keep warm in the unusually cold weather. Cold… like him… Her breath caught and she shook her head to clear it of her thoughts. I better get to Ichiraku's before Naruto comes to get me.

The jinchuuriki was grinning at the blushing Hyuuga heiress while the others were laughing when she arrived. She paused to watch them for a moment, a smile on her face. Lee wasn't there yet, otherwise he would have immediately called out to her. Neji muttered a half-hearted insult and the smile fell. Naruto just laughed, but Sakura could see the small strain in his eyes. So, she wasn't the only one reminded of him. Of course, with him, Naruto would be starting a fight by now.

Her eyes drifted to the ground and she turned away, suddenly losing the comfort the others' company usually gave her. Just before she left, she glanced over her shoulder and caught Naruto's sorrowful eyes and he nodded. The medic-nin gave him a shaky smile before running down the street. She just wanted to be alone and sulk, something she had been doing more and more often now.

Luck wasn't on her side today, as she ran into someone – someone with a half-bare chest and she narrowed her eyes as she fell, how could he stand the cold? She gave that someone a watery glare from the ground. "What do you want, Sai?" She knew that she wouldn't have run into him if he hadn't wanted her to.

The former ROOT member reached down a hand to help her up, but rolled his eyes when she merely gazed at it warily. He pulled her back to her feet and started dragging her in the direction of her apartment, his hand still grasping hers. "If you're not careful, you'll run into someone worse than me, like Lee-san." She blanched at the thought; Lee may be a friend, but he was still slightly obsessive. "Geez, Hag, I thought you were smarter than that."

She didn't reply as he dragged her on. It was rare that Sai showed that he cared for her and Naruto, so she stayed silent and let the insult slide. They reached her apartment and Sai took the key off the top of the doorway and opened the door. "Thank you, Sai…" Her whispered comment received only a nod as he pulled her through the door after him.

The medic fidgeted uneasily at the artist's stare. "I'm going… to go… take a shower." She turned around, blushing slightly at his blank gaze. He made her feel like he could see through her, just like he used to, and she hated it. She had trained under Tsunade to become strong, not to be belittled by her teammates.

"Why do always do that?" She turned questioningly to see Sai frown. "Why do you not like to be alone with me?"

She glanced away, ashamed that she was still comparing him with him. They weren't the same, no matter how much they appeared similar and how neither had any emotions. "It's nothing…"

"You're thinking of him." Now she was sure that he could see through her; only Naruto was able to read her that well…. Well, maybe Kakashi, but the Copy-nin was still weak from the encounter with Uchiha Itachi. She flinched at the blandness in his voice; she couldn't guess what he was thinking.

He took a step forward, taking her silence as the correct answer. "You told me yourself once, that I wasn't him and I never could be." She nodded slightly and he took another step. "I had never wanted to be anything like the traitor, not after I met Naruto and saw how hurt he had been…" Her eyes closed and she forced herself to stay still, no matter how much she wanted to run away.

"Then I saw the way you look when you think about him…" He was about a foot away from her now, and looked down with black eyes that smoldered with some unnamable emotion. A hand skimmed over her cheek, causing her to shudder. "And I couldn't help but wish that I was him, if only to make you look at me that way…"

Her eyes shot open and she opened her mouth in shock. "Sai…" He said nothing but stared down into her eyes, a wry smirk on his lips, before he kissed her gently. A sob broke from her throat and she wrapped her arms around him, answering the kiss passionately. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that she would never mistake him for Sasuke again.

Pulling back, she looked up at him uncertainly. "I don't know if I can look at you the way you want me to, not yet, at least." There was no tensing of him muscles; no flash of emotion in his eyes, there was nothing to portray what he was thinking. "Give me some time, and it… might work out." She gave him a small smile, and was surprised when his own returned it.

He gently pressed his lips against her forehead, and the soft smile that she would soon find was only reserved for her made its way to his face. "I'll give you as much time as you need, Sakura."

He turned and walked out of her apartment, leaving her to slide down the wall. That was… not what I expected… A small smile graced her lips and she leaned her head against the wall. I think… that I could truly learn how to love him.

She stood and walked into her bedroom, pausing at a picture on her dresser. The kunoichi picked it up delicately, a small smile on her face. Gomen, Sasuke… She put the picture of the original Team 7 behind the picture of the new Team Kakashi with her between Sai and Naruto. But I'm not hanging onto you anymore – I can see now that there are others out there that can care for me the way I wanted you to, and, even if you came back, I don't think I would be able to look at you without seeing the curse mark that nearly killed my best friend.

She walked away from the picture, feeling freer than she had felt for years.

AN: Um... Not sure about this one - first attempt at SaiSakura, and I think there willbe a sequel... So , thank you for reading and please tell me what you think!