Title: Dark Secrets in Ink

Author: greenphoenix85, adopted by swiftstar85

Short Summary: Sakura discovers the deepest, darkest secrets of the elder, Danzo, that he has kept from Konoha and it's a secret that can either begin the biggest war in Shinobi history or stop it before it begins.

Pairings: Sakura/Sai/Akatsuki, Yugao Uzuki/Akatsuki, Naruto/Hinata, Sasuke/Karin,

Warning: Rated T, but might go up; for very strong language, violence, and adult themes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of its characters.


::Chapter 3::


In her moment of panic, Sakura kept tugging at her hip pouch, trying to get free from the river bottom. She needed to get it off the rock before she drowned. But it seemed to be caught completely on the bottom or perhaps on a jagged edge. She kept pulling at it, trying to get it off but it didn't want to come off. And it wasn't helping that she was starting to feel the water trickled down her air waves, causing her to panic some more.

Just then, she felt something tugging on her wrist, making her quickly look up to see that Sai was still there with her. He was pulling himself downward to her and the river bottom. With a brief glance at Sakura, who was staring wide-eyed up at him, Sai shook his head before moving closer to where her bag was trapped. Sakura would have watched him as he tried to tug her bag free, if not for the water not starting to fill her lungs. It couldn't be helped after that. She started to thrash, trying to pull lose out of panic. She was starting to drown! She needed air! It was messing up her logical thinking, crushing her lungs as she fought so hard to get off the rock and return to the surface.

That is until she felt hands grab her face and she felt something press against her mouth.

Sakura's eyes snapped wide open as she turned her attention forward only to find herself herself looking at Sai as he pressed his mouth against hers, breathing air into her. His hot air filled her entire mouth and into her lungs, giving her the air that her brain and lungs were screaming for. And all she could do was grow very stiff as she stared at him with saucer wide eyes then watched as he pulled away and returned to tugging her bag free.

'Holy Kami!' Inner Sakura was screaming inside her head. 'Sai just kissed us! He just gave us the kiss of life!'

Sakura was still paralyzed with shock from what Sai had just done before her stunned thoughts were snapped right out very quickly as she felt herself being pulled upward. She blinked in the water before she realized that Sai was pulling her upward. He had finally freed her bag from the rock of death at the river's bottom. The pink haired girl could only stare up at him with surprise before she joined him into kicking her feet hard in the water. It wasn't more than three seconds before they both broke the surface.

Gasping for air, Sakura choked on what water that was still inside her mouth, trying to get it out. She almost went back down under the water again if someone hadn't grabbed a hold of her vest and held her up. She blinked water out of her eyes before looking up to see Yugao standing at the edge of the water. She was the one who had grabbed her vest but she wasn't the only one who was holding onto Sakura.

Sai was still right next to her, an arm around her waist, keeping her up. And boy, did he look surprised to see the violet haired ANBU.

So much for being completely emotionless, thought Sakura smugly before she remembered she had water in her lungs. She gasped and choked on water again when she almost went down.

Soon enough, she was pulled up onto dry land, spitting out water. She only glanced up when she heard Naruto shouting from somewhere close by. She saw him racing towards her with Kakashi and Yamato both jogging towards them, both of them glancing over at Yugao, who had a hint of a smirk on her face as she stayed crouched down beside Sakura.

"Sakura! Are you all right? Are you hurt? Talk to me! What happened? Did that jerk, Sai shove you into the river? Want me to kick his ass?" Naruto gasped as he quickly dropped down beside Sakura's other side.

Sakura made a face at him before she shook her head and coughed up some more water. She couldn't help herself as she thought about what just happened. She couldn't believe her luck at all. She had purposely fallen for one of Sai's traps, just to get his attention. It had gotten his attention all right. But it also sent them both flying into the river, where she had gotten caught on one of the river bottom rocks. And once again, she had needed to be rescued. Her career of being a fake ANBU wasn't starting out very well. "I'm fine, Naruto." She grumbled. "And no, Sai didn't shove me into the river! So quit yelling at me about it!"

Immediately Naruto backed down, ceasing his constant yelling about wanting to kick Sai's ass for doing such a thing as pushing Sakura into the river to drown her.

Kakashi chuckled as he stuffed his hands into his pockets before glancing over at Sai, who was looking through his pack, checking everything. Just judging the discontent look on his face, all of his things were wet. So he wasn't exactly happy, if he even if he didn't think he felt the emotion. "Well done, Sai, on helping Sakura out when she needed it." He then turned his eye onto Yugao who helped Sakura standing up. "Well, Yugao Uzuki. What are you doing all the way out here?" He asked, sounding very amused.

It was then Naruto noticed the strange woman for the first time. "Hey! Where did you come from?" He exclaimed pointing at her.

Raising an eyebrow at him, Yugao snorted as she glanced from the blonde to an annoyed Sakura, who began hitting him on the head after he had just yelled into her ear. She just folded her arms and shifted her weight. "Kind of slow, isn't he?" She asked, glancing back at Kakashi.

"What? What's that suppose to mean?" Naruto exclaimed in anger. But he then yelped when Sakura clubbed him over the head again for yelling into her ear.

However, even Sai looked somewhat annoyed, in his own way as he looked at Yugao. He was shaking out his painting scroll, trying to get it to dry quicker. "I'm curious to know what you're doing out here as well." He remarked dryly.

Both Naruto and Sakura looked at him surprise. Neither one didn't exactly know that Sai knew the violate haired woman, though Sakura had seen hints of it through Yugao. Yugao just smiled at him before folding her arms over her curvy chest. "I was taking a run around the village and I saw you guys training so I decided to watch for a while." She turned to Kakashi and Yamato. "Well, Kakashi-senpai. It's been a while, hasn't it?" She asked then winking at Yamato as if being flirty with him. "Hey, Tenzou-kun."

That even surprised Sakura when she heard that. She had been aware that Yugao knew of Kakashi and Yamato, whose real name was Tenzou. But to actually know them? Yugao hadn't said a thing to her about knowing her two teachers. Kakashi just nodded to the violate haired woman, tilting his head to the side. "Yes, it has been a while, hasn't it?" He said, thoughtfully.

Yamato, however, just dipped his head, looking somewhat embarrassed by Yugao's flirty ways. "Yugao, I'm not going by Tenzou anymore. It's Yamato." He told her.

Yugao only smiled at him. She seemed to find pleasure in his embarrassment. "I know that. I'm just teasing you, Yama-kun!" She said before laughing out right when Yamato's face turned a deep pink. Kakashi and Sakura couldn't help but laugh at the look on his face.

"Hey! Wait a second!" Naruto bellowed out still pointing at Yugao. "Who are you and how do you know Kakashi-sensei? And Yamato-sensei!"

"Naruto! Stop yelling in my ear!" Sakura yelled right back at him before punching him in the head for a third time.

Yugao just laughed as she watched the blonde fall to the ground while groaning in pain. She seemed to find this very amusing in deed. But with a shrug, she folded her arms. "My name's Yugao Uzuki and Kakashi was once my captain on my ANBU squad." She blurted out.

Naruto and Sakura looked surprised to hear that, but Kakashi only shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal at all. He just stuffed his hands into his pockets as he looked at Yugao with interest. "So, Yugao, since you're out here, why don't you join us for our little exercise. It would even out the teams." He said, knowingly.

Yugao smirked as she looked everyone over before nodding. She even locked eyes with Sakura who blinked in surprise before her face drifted into a look of knowing. The pinkette realized that this had been her ANBU partner's plan the entire time. And Kakashi just helped them out. "All right. I'll join you guys. What are we doing?" She asked, folding her arms and shifting her weight.

"Hmmm. A survival exercise. But since we've evened the numbers, we'll form three teams. Naruto, you're with me." Kakashi said, looking at the blonde, who just grinned. "Sai and Yamato, you can be together. And why don't we just put the ladies together. Does that sound good?"

Everyone glanced at one another before they all nodded. Naruto looked a little hesitant though about Sakura being with a complete stranger that he didn't know. He wasn't even aware that Sakura and Yugao knew each other as it was. "Uh…..but….Sakura, you gonna be okay with this lady?" He asked glancing at the violate haired woman.

Both Sakura and Yugao glanced at one another before smirking as they turned their eyes back onto the blonde. "Yeah, Naruto. I think I'll be fine." The pink haired kunoichi said as she shifted her weight.

Kakashi nodded before he stepped back. "And to make things a little interesting, and a little fun, how about we do a little game of Catch the Thief. Each team will have some sort of flag that the other teams have to try and steal from each other. If one team manages that by the end of the day, they win this little exercise." He told them.

Everyone nodded as they took the information in. They figured it would work out. So the six ninja got together with their partners and got started. Kakashi and Naruto's flag was going to be one of Kakashi's bells, though Naruto had said that it should be his Icha Icha Book. Of course, the Copy Ninja immediately refused that one. Sai and Yamato had decided that their 'flag' would be a wood bird that Yamato created. It would have a black inked head so that they would know which one it would be. As for Sakura and Yugao, they decided that their 'flag' was going to be one of Yugao's katana.

Yugao glanced side wards at Sakura as soon as they were read, both looking a little smug. "I think this is going to be very interesting. Don't you think, Sakura?" The ANBU asked. Sakura just smiled and nodded before she looked over at Sai, who was watching them very carefully. He was definitely a little suspicious about why Yugao was there. But they wouldn't pay attention to him. Once everyone was ready, they all bolted in different directions with their partners.

Both Yugao and Sakura immediately took to the trees to hide their presence from the others. They needed to come up with a plan of how they were going to get the others' flags. They found a secluded area where Yugao quickly put up chakra traps while they stayed in the bushes. They sat there for a moment, listening to the racket going on far off in the distance. By the sounds of it, Kakashi and Naruto were fighting Sai and Yamato.

"I definitely owe Kakashi-taichou for this one." Yugao said as she glanced over her shoulder into the bushes.

Sakura blinked in surprise before tilting her head to the side as she looked her partner over with interest. "So you do know Kakashi." She said, with a minor question to it.

Yugao turned her eyes back onto her before smiling and nodding to her. "Yeah. I really was on the same squad as Kakashi a long time ago. Me and a few others." She told her. "Okay, let's come up with a plan. You still need to steal something from Sai, right? Well, we'll definitely need to distract him. Here's what we'll do." And she began to tell the pinkette a plan.

Once they had the plan down, both crept through the bushes to locate the others. They were trying to locate the others, mostly Sai and Yamato. They had already agreed that Sakura would take on Sai while Yugao was taking Yamato. And during the fight, they might switch just so that if Sai did notice that something was missing, he wouldn't know which one took whatever it was they pick pocketed from him. It took a while to find them.

Almost ten minutes had passed before Sai and Yamato spotted Sakura and Yugao walk right out of the bushes and they jumped them. The ground began to rumble as the wood manipulator brought tree roots right out of the ground. Immediately, Sakura and Yugao separated, one going for Yamato and the other going for Sai.

Sakura quickly dodged the ink beasts that Sai and quickly painted after her. She did several back flips before turning to face him, a sly smile on her face as she met his dark eyes. He didn't even smile as he quickly moved towards her, ready to fight her. He swung his leg at her to kick her but she quickly moved under his leg, ducking around him. She had to flip backwards when he tried to do a back kick at her. She then charged after him, swinging a fist at him. He blocked it just fine, before trying to flip her right over himself.

"Whoa!" Sakura yelped as she found herself flat on her back and grew stiff when Sai sat on her belly, pinning her down.

Sai just looked blankly down at her as he trapped her wrists down to the ground, his dark eyes meeting hers. There was a minor pause before Sakura smirked up at him before quickly flipping him right over her head, onto his back and then she was pinning him down. "So, Sai, got a question for you. Why won't you teach me how to be emotionless?" She asked as she sat down on his stomach. She had to quickly move when one of Sai's ink beasts tried to jump on her. She was quickly on her feet, standing ready to continue their fight.

The black clad ninja just stood up as quick as she had before he frowned at her. "…"

"Not going to answer my question?" Sakura asked, smiling at him as she raised an eyebrow at him.

Sai just frowned at her as he started to move at her, throwing fists and kicks at her. She dodged his moves, moving further away as far as she needed to while he tried to attack her. "Talking during a fight will get you no where." He told her dryly as he ducked under her fist and swung around to behind her. "Besides, I already told you why."

Sakura spun around and gave him a very dry look while standing in her stance. "Oh, that's right. That blank look that you wear wouldn't suit mine. Well, for your information, Sai, I'll have whatever blank look on my face that I want. If I want to look like you, I will. I just need your help controlling my emotions so that I'm not weak anymore." She told him. Sai gave her a fake smile but shook his head as he crouched down and was painting rapidly against the summon scroll he possessed. He quickly slammed his hands down on the paintings as they started to rise up. To Sakura's surprise, they were ink figures of her, with a blank look on his face. Now she could see what Sai meant. The blank look really didn't suit her. But then again, that was only paintings. But still, it was apart of her mission. She needed to figure out how to hide her emotions. "Sai, that's not going to change my mind." She said dryly.

"Well, you're not going to change my mind either." Sai said blankly as he formed another hand sign. Without a word at all, he nodded towards Sakura, whereas the Sakura Ink Clones charged at her, swinging their fists at her.

Sakura frowned as she quickly dodged them, her eyes still on Sai as he watched her fighting his clones. She could almost see a smug look in his dark eyes though. It was like he was expecting her to mess something up and get knocked onto her ass. But with a smirk of her own, she called her Chakra to her fist before swinging it down hard and slammed it on the ground. The ground erupted with fissures and splattered the Ink Clones. The minor earthquake also threw Sai off balance and he fell onto his back.

At that very moment, Yugao came back flipping between them, giving Sakura a smile as she dodged Yamato's wooden spears flying at her. "I'll trade ya, Pinky!" She called to her.

Normally, Sakura would glare at someone for calling her that. But she just smiled before she rushed at Yamato next, knowing that Sai was probably watching her. She could certainly feel his eyes on her as she charged at her other teacher, who just sent roots at her, trying to bind her.

Either way, Mission accomplished.

By the end of the day, when the training session was finally finished, Naruto was lying sprawled on the ground, panting hard. Sakura was sitting next to him, elbows on her knees and trying to catch her breath. She was happy with the results of the training session. She not only had a chance to fight Sai, and kick his butt in her own way, but she knew for a fact that she was getting better at her Taijutsu. She had even pulled a few of Rock Lee's moves on Naruto, which nearly stunned him silly. Kakashi, Yamato and Yugao were the only ones standing up, not completely out of breath but they did look a little worn down.

"Now, that's what I call a training exercise!" Yugao said brightly as she bent over with her hands on her knees. She smirked as she straightened and looked up at Kakashi. "I see you haven't changed too much, Kakashi-senpai. You run your students hard just as if you were running your old ANBU squad."

Kakashi just gave her a smile under his mask and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey. The Ninja world is not a kind place, Yugao. Sometimes you have to be harsh." He turned his dark eye back onto his three young teammates though. "But, you all have done very well today. Naruto, not only did you manage to do the Rasengan three times, you knocked Yamato off his feet. Something that doesn't happen very much. He's like a sturdy tree, you see. Sai, not bad on some of your Ink Clones. And you're still as swift as ever." He then looked fondly at Sakura, who grinned up at him. "Sakura, you've improved greatly since the Mission in the Land of Wind. You have gotten stronger, faster and smarter. I'm glad you've been getting a little help from Lee, seeing that you know some of his moves. It's obvious that you've been training with him."

"Him, Neji and Tenten, actually." Sakura admitted as she rubbed the back of her neck.

Naruto sat up sharply before giving her a wide eyed look as if she had just done something very stupid. "You've been training with bushy brows, Neji and Tenten?" he gasped.

Sakura gave him a dull look but nodded. "Yeah? So what? I asked them to help me with my Taijutsu, Naruto. Why does that bother you? They're your friends too." She said impatiently.

Kakashi then shrugged as he turned slightly away and looked up at the darkening sky. "Well, it's getting late. And we'll probably have a mission tomorrow. So let's call it a day." He told everyone and was suddenly gone in a poof of smoke.

Yamato just shook his head before looking over at the others with a faint smile. Then he walked away. Naruto was still pouting a little that Sakura hadn't told him about her training with Lee, Neji and Tenten. If she would have told him about it, he would have trained with them. It never occurred to him that she had wanted to train with them, alone.

"Hey! Sakura-chan!" He suddenly brightened up. "Let's go get some ramen together! What do you say?"

Sakura walked beside Yugao, looking away thoughtfully. She had barely registered Naruto's words but when she did, she shook her head. "Sorry, Naruto. I've got a very early morning and I would rather get some sleep." She told him, almost laughing when her blonde friend pouted. She was suddenly struck with an idea that might perk his mood up again. "Actually, Naruto. Why don't you go ask Hinata if she wants to have some ramen with you? I'm sure she would love to hang out with you."

Naruto's eyes brightened at the idea before he started grinning. "Okay! Great idea! Thanks, Sakura-chan!" He said before bolting away from them.

Both Sakura and Yugao were snickering as they watched the blonde run off and out of sight in seconds. The pink haired girl knew very well that her blonde friend was starting to like the Hyuga Heiress. Ever since they had had a talk about their relationship and put it right down that there would be nothing more between them but friendship. Sakura had made sure that Naruto realized that she couldn't love him in a intimate way. She explained to him it wasn't because of Sasuke, or anything. It was just how she felt. She admitted it to him that he had grown very nicely over the three years since he was gone away from Konoha, but she just saw him more a brother than anything else. Naruto hadn't been as upset as she thought he would have been. Instead, he agreed with her and stated that he saw her as a sister too. Then he turned his eyes onto Hinata Hyuga, revealing he really started to like her.

However, Sakura's thoughts about her blonde friend was interrupted when Sai suddenly turned towards Yugao, giving her a very blank look, though not looking happy either. Instead, he held out his hand towards the ANBU, who was smirking as if she knew what he wanted. "Yugao, give it back." He muttered.

Sakura blinked in surprise but Yugao smirked as she folded her arms and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Give what back, Sai? I don't know what you're talking about." She told him.

"My Ink summoning scroll. I would appreciate it if you gave it back to me." Sai said dryly.

Only then did Sakura start smiling as she realized what he was talking about. She just tilted her head to the side and watched her ANBU partner deal with her emotionless teammate. She already knew that her problem was going to be dealt with soon enough.

"What makes you so sure that I have anything that belongs to you, Sai?" Yugao asked smirking. "Much less an Ink Summoning scroll that you use to bring your Ink creations alive."

Sai gave her a very cool stare but shook his head as he lift his head a little higher. He knew very well that Yugao had taken his scroll from him. He wasn't stupid. Maybe a little dense when it came to emotions but he wasn't stupid when someone stole something from him and then tried to hide it from the others. "Yugao." He said warningly.

Yugao just gave him a wolfish grin before she dropped her hands at her sides. Now it was time for the negotiations. "All right, all right. I'll give you back your scroll. But under one condition." She told him. And she ignored him when a low growl rose from his chest. "It's the condition or nothing, Sai. You know I can be a real bitch. So don't test me." She even added a little testy tone to her remark.

Sai's eyes narrowed at her but then he let out a low breath and dipped his head into a nod. "Fine. What is it?" He asked, quietly.

Yugao grinned at him before tilting her head towards Sakura, who grinned right back at her. They had this nicked in the bag. So their plan to convincing Sai to train Sakura was working. But there was always a chance that it would backfire. Still, it was worth a try. So the feline-like ANBU tossed her head towards Sakura. "To get your scroll back, you have to teach my girl, Sakura here, how to hide her emotions just like you." She told him.

It went very quiet as Sai's head lift a little higher and his eyebrows knitted together in thought. He stared at her for a very long time before his face grew very blank and he looked over at Sakura, frowning. "I see. So you're behind this. You recruited Yugao Uzuki, an ANBU into trying to trap me into doing as you requested." He said sound a little grave.

Sakura shook her head as she folded her arms. "Sai, you didn't give me much of a choice. I want to learn how to suppress my emotions. It's something that I want." She told him.

Sai turned his head away from her before he shook his head. He was quiet for a very long time, seeming to be thinking about how he was going to explain something to Sakura. But then he turned his blank look onto her. "I can't teach you how to be like me, Sakura." He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to start complaining. "But I can put a seal on you that will allow you to hide your emotions."

That just made both Sakura and Yugao frown as they glanced at one another. They were somewhat confused about what he was talking about. A seal? How many ways did Sai know how to hide his emotions? Sakura tilted head to the side. "Is it the way you were taught?" She frowned when he shook his head. "Well, why don't you just teach me the way that you were…"

"No." Sai immediately interrupted with a very serious look in his eyes. The look in his dark eyes scared the pinkette a little. "I will not do that. Do not even think about trying to convince me to teach you that way. The simpler and safer way will be the emotion seal." He told her, sternly.

Now Sakura's curiosity was perked. She wanted to know what exactly happened to Sai to make him that way. Was there a special exercise he had had gone through to make him so emotionless? Now she really wanted to know. "Sai? How were you taught to be emotionless?" She asked, now a little uneasy. Especially with the way he was looking at her now. She didn't like that look in his eyes at all.

But instead of replying to her question, Sai turned slightly away, reaching into his pack and pulled out his ink and brush. "Turn around and pull back your hair." He told her quietly. Sakura frowned at him for ignoring her question but she figured that it was better not to ask. She would have to try and find out in her own way. So she would leave alone for a while. With a shrug, she turned her back to him and pulled her short pink hair right out of the way.

"Exactly what are you doing, Sai?" Yugao asked as she carefully observed the ninja in black.

Sai merely glanced at her but then shook his head as he pulled open the ink tube. Dipping the brush into the ink a few times, he looked back at Sakura's neck before raising the brush. "The emotion seal I am about to place on you will allow you to lock away your emotions to the back of your mind. It repress your emotions until you can adjust yourself to doing it by yourself. That is one way I learned how to lock away my emotions." He explained quietly.

Yugao and Sakura both frowned as they listened to him. Neither one had ever heard of an emotion seal. So they didn't know exactly what it was. "An emotion seal? I've never heard of it. How did you learn about this emotion seal?" The ANBU asked.

Sai just shook his head as he rose the brush towards Sakura's neck and then began painting a marking on her skin. The cold liquid had made her jump a little but she relaxed very quickly so that he could do it without messing it up. "Danzo-sama taught me it. It was how I was first taught to suppress my emotions." He then went quiet for a moment as he painted something. It was obvious he didn't want to tell them the whole truth. "With this seal, you will be able to hide your emotions. Permanently if you wish it." He told the pinkette.

Sakura felt a wave of worry roll over her. She wasn't really intending to be emotionless forever. "Sai, is it permanent?" She asked, only a little uneasy.

Sai slowly shook his head as painted a very unusual seal onto her neck before pulling the brush away. He blew on it a few times so that the ink would dry faster before putting his paint brush away. "It can be, if you keep it activated all of the time. The seal can be activated and deactivated whenever you want. But I wouldn't deactivate after a long period of time if I were you. It has an after effect. The seal catches the emotions you feel inside, keeping you from expressing them outside. It bottles them up." He told them quietly.

"So that means….." Yugao asked, frowning.

Sai just nodded as he reached up and touched the ink to make sure it was dry before putting his ink and brush away. "It means if you get angry or sad while having the seal activated, it will only flood inside of you, creating an emotional flood. When you release the seal, it will…." He paused, trying to come up with the right way of putting it.

Sakura, however, understood as she took in the information. She knew where Sai was trying to get at. "It will totally build up, right? A total emotional break down." She asked, softly.

"Yes." Sai answered then he placed his hands on the back of her neck. "Empathy Suppression Jutsu. Seal, activate." He said quietly.

Sakura winced when she felt a dull sting in her neck, as if she felt a bee sting her. She wanted to cry out from pain but for some reason, she couldn't. She could only frown as reached up and rubbed the back of her neck where it stung while turning around to glare at Sai. But to her surprise, she couldn't feel herself to doing it. She felt so…..blank. This actually scared her a little, though she didn't feel it. She felt nothing at all. Her face felt as if it was stuck in a blank look too. So she turned around and frowned blankly at Sai, who watched her just as blankly. "Is it on?" She asked, only a little startled that she sounded so blank.

Sai, however, nodded his head as he tucked his brush and paint away, making sure that it wouldn't make a mess. "Yes. To activate it, you must say, 'Seal Activate.' To deactivate it, the opposite. 'Seal Deactivate.' These are the words to turning on and off the seal." He explained to her.

Sakura slowly nodded as she took in the information. It was pretty simple to understand. "What about hand signs? Are there hand signs I have to know about?" She asked blankly.

Again Sai nodded. "To activate the seal, you must do the hand seals Rat, Snake and Dragon. To deactivate the seal, Tiger, Ram, then Ox." He told her.

Sakura could only node before she looked at Yugao. She noted the weirded out look on the ANBU's face as she looked right at her face. Her partner actually looked as if she didn't like something. "What?" She asked emotionlessly.

Yugao grimaced as she looked directly at Sakura's face before shaking her head and unfolding her arms. "You know? I think Sai was right about you, Sakura. That blank look on your face doesn't really suit you at all. You look so…..so dead." She told her.

Sakura would have laughed if not for the seal. She was pretty sure that Yugao didn't mean that she looked dead with the blank look on her face. But then she thought of something very interesting. If this seal could suppress emotions and keep a face from showing anything at all, did that mean Sai was under it right at that second? So she looked at him, blankly. "Sai, are you under this seal now? Is that why you never express your emotions around me and Naruto?" She asked, meeting him right in the eye.

Sai looked her right in the eye but then shook his head. "No. I have not been able to express emotions or feelings for many years now. Not since I was very young. Danzo started my emotionless training by placing the seal on me, but for some reason it did not work for too long. I do not need the seal to lock away my emotions. Eventually as you readjust to an emotionless state, the seal will fade as you completely lock away your emotions. But that is if you keep it on constantly." He told her.

Sakura just nodded before grimacing within. She knew she couldn't do it on the outside but her Inner sure could. She could see Inner Sakura grimacing at the thought that they would be emotionless like that. It bothered them both. Sakura felt like a mindless drone. Now she knew how Sai felt. So forming the hand seals; Tiger, Ram, and then Ox, she deactivated the seal while saying, "Seal Deactivate," just to make sure that it worked. The very moment the seal deactivated, Sakura almost regretted it. She felt a flood of emotions roll right over her. She felt a brief felling of pain, then anger and then laughter at the same time and ended up crying out then laughing mirthlessly. The very sound made her eyes widen as she slapped a hand over her mouth and look at Sai with alarm. She looked very bewildered by what she just felt. "Oh, jeez! Is that the emotional over load you were talking about?"

Sai looked somewhat amused in his blank way. But he nodded nonetheless. "Yes. The more emotions you build up, the stronger they get. But they tend to fade if you just leave them alone while sealed." He then turned away from her and looked at Yugao, dryly. "Now, my scroll. I've done as you requested." He said, but then paused when Yugao rose an eyebrow at him. "What?" He asked, dryly.

"She wants you to say please, Sai." Sakura said smirking as she folded her arms and shifted her weight.

Sai rolled his dark eyes before giving Yugao an impatient look. "Fine then. Please." He told her.

Yugao nodded in satisfaction before smirking smugly. She had a look as if she knew something and that agitated Sai a little. It didn't help when she turned and smirked right at Sakura, who was smiling right back. The violate haired ANBU nodded to her before she reached into her pack and pulled out a scroll that Sakura recognized as Sai's summoning scroll. She only smirked as she watched her partner hand it back to Sai, who immediately stuffed it back into his pack.

With a sharp nod to Yugao, Sai turned away to leave.

"Oh, Sai!" Sakura immediately spoke up, catching his attention. She smirked slyly when he turned back towards her with an inquiring look. With a smug smile, the pinkette dug into her hip pouch and pulled out a familiar book. Sai's Brother's Book. The look on Sai's face was priceless though when he saw that Sakura had it. He looked as as if he hadn't been expecting this what's so ever. He even quickly looked into his back pack, digging around through it to see if it as the actual book or a copy. But it was obvious that he couldn't find it.

'So much for being completely emotionless then. I sure caught him on this one.' Sakura thought smugly before she held it out to him. "Thanks, Sai! Catch ya later!" She said in a flirty like way before she and Yugao were running off, laughing.

Sai just stood there with the book in his hand, looking stunned.