AN: Thank you for all of the reviews and alerts! This one got kind of long, sorry!

Two: Sai shows some (more) skin

"Damn it," Sakura murmured as her fingers rifled through her small change purse, a plummeting sensation occurring in her stomach when she realized it was a lot emptier than she had expected.

"What is it, Ugly?" Sai asked distractedly as his eyes surveyed all of the kunai that were displayed on the weapons stand.

"I don't have enough," she responded dejectedly, her eyes darting from the weapon sets on the sale counter back to the sparse coins. A wave of foolishness hit her when she realized that out of all of her enemies, it was commercialism that she had underestimated the most.

Earlier that morning, Sakura had noticed her supply of senbon, shuriken, and kunai were beginning the dwindle, and like any responsible kunoichi, she decided to take advantage of her day off to restock. On her way towards the weapon's merchant she had run across Sai, who, after a few salutatory insults, had taken it upon himself to follow her around.

Sakura absently gnawed on her lower lip and gazed at Sai, "You wouldn't happen to have any money I could borrow?" she questioned, swallowing down her pride.

Sai stared at her in confusion, and silence seemed to stretch on forever.

She fought down the frustration that was beginning to overcome her, "Money? Do you have any I could use now, that I will pay you back for later?"

Sai blinked, and then snorted, "I know what borrowing is, Hag."

She could feel the vein beginning to pulse in her temple, "Typical," she muttered, her gaze drifting towards the merchant who was beginning to get very irritated indeed.

The merchant was an unpleasant looking fellow, his teeth yellow, skin oily, and a huge beer belly protruded out from his too-small vest. Sakura sighed, and began to slowly weigh her options. She needed those weapons, it could be a matter of life or death, and judging by the way the man was staring at her legs…

The kunoichi exhaled between her teeth, Ino-pig was a horrible influence on her.

Placing full eyelash-battering action on, Sakura leaned forward over the weapons, hoping that her vest's zipper was pulled down low enough for the merchant to get a decent view of her, sadly, barely-there cleavage.

"Are you sure you're not willing to haggle?" Sakura inquired, seductive pout in effect.

The man stared at her in confusion, before his lips pursed, obviously seeing through her pathetic attempt at flirting her way out of a bill, "All prices are final."

Sai watched this interaction with a calculating aspect in his eyes.

A determined look crossed over her face, she wasn't backing down anytime soon, "Please? I've been having a hard time getting missions and it's dangerous out there for a young, single girl like me without weapons."

The man's gaze went back to her legs, and the moment's hesitation was obvious, before he shook his head, "Sorry, but if I gave every pretty kunoichi discounts, I'd be out of business."

Sakura noticeably deflated, realizing that this wasn't going to work. She let out a dejected mumble before she turned and began to walk away from the stand. She was stopped by a hand clasped on her forearm, and Sakura let out a startled gasp of surprise before she discovered it was Sai's.

"What were you doing?" Sai asked his teammate, curiosity apparent by his tone.

Sakura felt herself color slightly, "Oh, nothing."

Sai continued to stare at her, obviously expecting an answer.

She groaned, "I was trying to flirt with the guy."

Sai blinked, "Flirt?"

The medic nin paused, trying to find a suitable way to explain the situation to Sai without much embarrassment on her part, "It's where you…pretend to like someone so they'll do something nice for you."

The artist contemplated this for a moment, before nodding, "I see."

Sakura shrugged, "It's not a big deal, I'll go shop around some more," she said off-handedly, turning around and starting to walk down Konoha's shopping district.

After a few seconds, she turned back around and noticed that Sai had vanished. Somewhat concerned, she searched the crowd for his face and felt her jaw drop when her eyes finally landed on him.

He was back at that weapons stand.

Even worse, his posture was mimicking Sakura's earlier one, as he leaned over the counter with his hand propping up his chin. She blanched in absolute horror when she realized that Sai was pulling down the zipper for his already barely-decent-for-the-public shirt, exposing his chest as the merchant's eyes pretty much bugged out of his skull.

Too mortified to move, Sakura continued to numbly observe the debacle. Sai whispered something to the man, his pout identical to Sakura's earlier one. The man tossed three packs of weapons at Sai's chest as if they were engulfed in flames, and quickly made shooing motions with his pudgy hands.

Sai gave his fake smile to the man, then turned around and jogged over to where Sakura stood traumatized. "Here Hag!" He said, smiling as he dropped the gear over Sakura's shoulders.

Sakura blinked slowly, still trying to process what had just occurred as she shifted the weapons' weight, "What…" She trailed off, and then instantly realized that she most certainly did not want to know what Sai said to that man, "Never mind."

"You were right for once, Ugly, the man was very considerate after I 'flirted'." He said, eyes still creased from his constant grin.

Sakura's eyes went to Sai, then passed him to the stand. The merchant appeared thoroughly distressed. She stared at Sai again, and debated whether or not she should elaborate her explanation of flirting. Finally, she settled against it. There were some things Sai was just better off not knowing for now.

"Um…thanks Sai," she ventured.

Sai was silent for a few moments, "Does this mean that I am better at flirting than you?" He paused, stroking his chin, "Perhaps it was your hideousness that was off-putting?"

Sakura felt her jaw clench, and vowed that the new weapons would soon be put to good use.