Characters Sakura, Sai, two gate guards

Summary Sai and Sakura try to find out where Naruto went after Sai ripped him off of Sakura's shoulder

Disclaimer I don't own any Naruto characters... at least, not ones created by Kishimoto. ;;

Sakura's shoulder had been fine, really the claws hadn't indented very much… She looked at Sai as he stared off in the direction that Naruto had gone. It had been roughly half and hour since Naruto had suddenly run off. Sakura's shoulder was still a little sore, but that was the extent of her injuries. Her emerald eyes met the ebony orbs on Sai's face. She looked at him a moment and nodded her head that she was all right.

"What was that all about? I've never seen Naruto-kun do that before."

Sai told her, looking at her, the shirt he was wearing was a short-cropped shirt that exposed his mid-rift, and he wore shorts as well. He looks like a female Ino with black hair. Sakura found herself thinking suddenly as she watched him, she blinked when he called her attention to the question again. She blushed, "I don't know, I've seen him do that once… but there was something different this time." She said softly, looking at her knees.

"What did you tell him Sakura?"

"I told him the news about Sasuke-kun."

"And he went berserk? Just like that?"

"Yeah…" Sakura shivered slightly, "I don't know what has gotten into him. It was like he was scared or something." She said softly and looked down at her fingernails. She blinked back a few tears, "The change he went through was so sudden… He was a completely different person in under a second." She shivered, remembering the last time she'd encountered Naruto like that, fear shimmied up and down her spine as she thought about that a moment. Looking over her shoulder as if Naruto might be there, she shifted closer to Sai who suddenly looked uncomfortable with her being so close. He wasn't sure what to do.

None of the books he'd read had explained what to do when a friend was in distress. Oh, he knew the signs of it -and she was displaying all of the signs- but what he was supposed to do was going to be covered in the next chapter – a chapter he hadn't read yet. He gulped slightly, he cursed all of those years in the ROOTS and looked at Sakura helplessly. Hesitantly, not wanting to be suddenly attacked by the female, he lifted up the arm closest to her and pulled her into a (hopefully) comforting hug.

Sai thought about the Naruto he'd seen just a few moments before as he held her loosely. He thought hard about the Naruto he'd come to know, and the Naruto he'd seen about an hour ago. There was something else in the male's face that had caused Sai to look deeper into Naruto's eyes, there was only two -okay, three if ya want to get technical- words for it; lust and longing. But lust and longing for what? At the time Sai had thought it had been a lust for pain, Sai had heard Sakura crying out from three blocks down, but there wasn't a single smile on Naruto's lips, no grin. His eyes were dark and a bloody red color. When Sai had taken Naruto's clawed hand off of Sakura's shoulder he'd seen something that had scared him – Bewilderment. It was like Naruto hadn't even realized what he'd done to Sakura's shoulder.

Sai looked over at Sakura, he didn't loose his cool, and he didn't tell her of his suspicions. She was in enough pain as it was. He blinked, not noticing that he was staring at her until she brought it to his attention. He blinked a few times and looked at her, "How long as it been?" She asked softly, looking teary-eyed at her new teammate, "How long has it been since Naruto left?" She asked softly. Sai looked at her, his black gaze traveled up towards the sun, the lengthening shadows told him it had been a few hours.

Looking into her eyes he knew she knew that as well. He got up slowly and looked at her, "We should go after him Sakura." He blinked. Drat, I forgot to add the 'chan' again, damn! This friend thing is hard! He scolded himself silently; he glanced over at her and nodded his head when she stood up. "Where do you think he went Sakura-chan?" He asked her, carefully remembering the proper ending for her name and status. Sakura looked up at the sun, her gloved hand found it's way into her hair, she sighed, "That ramen stand… He's bound to be there…" She said distantly, already leaping off to look for her other lost teammate. Sai nodded his head and followed her after a few seconds.

It took them only a few moments to get to the ramen stand, within those few seconds they found that Naruto hadn't been passed there in over a week – the Old Man was worried about the kid. He asked Sakura to keep a look out for him if she found him, tell him that he had a bowl of ramen waiting just for him. Sakura had nodded her head, Sai and the medical-nin departed from the shop without another word.

"Oh, where could he be?" Sakura asked, looking afraid, her voice was tight with worry; her strong hands shivered and shook with panic.

"Could he have left the village?" Sai inquired to the pink-haired female. Sakura shook her head, he snorted, "I bet he did Sakura, he looked pretty stricken when I ripped his hand off of your shoulder." He told her, looking her full in the eyes, she dropped her gaze after a second of those black searching eyes, finding herself unable to look into those truthful obsidians.

"He didn't mean to hurt me Sai." She told him softly, "I could tell, something just made him tense." She said, trying to assure herself that that was, indeed, why Naruto had grasped her shoulder so hard that it had bled. Sai snorted, "Bull. I bet he ran like a coward." He said it much more harshly than he meant too and found that he was now staring into emerald flames. He blinked and took a step back, having already felt the strength in her punch one time too many. "Hey, hey," He said, holding up his hands, "Let's check the gate okay? Maybe the guards saw him run out, alright?" He tried to assure her. The fire left her eyes, replaced by a sad longing and she nodded her head. "Alright." She said softly, she looked up towards the gates (which were far from view) and thought; Naruto, where are you? What's wrong with you? What happened to you that day with Sasuke…?

Shaking her head, the female ninja knew that none of her answers would become evident until she met with Naruto again and forced him to tell her the truth that he was so obviously running from. Maybe she'd tell him about her own feelings. Maybe.

When Sai touched her shoulder she nodded her head and sprang off towards the gates of Konoha. They neared the gates after a few moments; the air around here was stagnant, as if something had blocked the flow of air from this area of Konohagakure. Sakura blinked, noticing it instantly, It smells of Naruto, she thought faintly, having no idea when she'd noticed that Naruto had a scent. It was a sweet, like pork, but smooth like ramen noodles. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Naruto smells of ramen. She thought with a silent, sad chuckle. He'll be happy to hear that I bet.

They touched down near the gate and looked at the two guards. Before Sakura could open her mouth to inquire about Naruto, the guards spoke;

"What's up with Naruto? He tore outta here like his ass was on fire!" They said, eyes wide and staring at each other and then towards Sai and Sakura. Those two shared a moment, then they asked the guard their questions, the questions were the usual, 'what time did he flash by?' 'has he been back through yet?'. By the time they were done, Sakura was afraid for Naruto's well being. He seemed to have come through here like an orange and black whirlwind. Oh Naruto, what's wrong with you? She agonized silently. Sai gripped her hand gently, "Sakura, should we report this to Tsunade-sama or should we go after him?" He asked her, looking her right in the eyes.

Sakura faltered a moment go after Naruto second? She couldn't stand the thought of it at all. With a shake of her head and a look towards the gate Sai knew her answer. Of course, he'd know what she was going to say before he asked it, but still, it was right to give her the illusion of choice. Sai turned back and addressed the gate guards who were watching them with intense interest, Sai gathered his thoughts in a flash and spoke in his deadpan voice, "Please inform Hokage-sama that Sakura and I are going after Naruto who ran away from Konohagakure this morning after being informed about Sasuke." He said, nodding his head towards them, he re-grasped Sakura's hand and tugged her towards the gate's gaping doors. Sakura had little choice but to follow him; not that she was complaining really.