Standard Disclaimers Apply.
Time Since Mission Start: 1 Month, 3 Weeks, 6 Days
Chapter 6: Misgivings
Leran was a charming little backward hick town. This fact, Sai was sure of. It seemed that though it had been quite some time since Kiba had made his appearance among the citizens the occupants of Hick-Town were still rather… raw… over the whole incident. From what he could gather, multiple maidenhoods were in danger and several appendages had been broken. Never the less, it made Sai's fake brilliant smile all to welcome in contrast to the glower of his comrade. Not that they knew that they were comrades. The tale he spun was dramatic and tragic, just like those novels Sakura used to hide behind her larger more formidable looking medical texts. In his cover he portrayed Sakura as a woman once spurned by love and Kiba as the man who destroyed their relationship through jealousy and control freak tendencies. Sai played the role of Sakura's best friend, who adored and loved her quietly from the sidelines. Positioning himself as a victim of a one-sided romance, the women of the town quickly adjusted to him as being a "sweet poor dear", and were more than ready to propose any information they did have while thoroughly slandering Kiba's rough exterior. The Ex-Root had even woven Deidara into his tapestry of day-time soap opera storyline, informing them that the blond was the disgraced son of a foreign dignitary and that he and Sakura had started a whirlwind romance in their youth. She was too loyal to her village to leave it for him, and it was that fact that caused their relationship to end. Their passion for each other still burned behind the angst of their situation; and though Sai (as her best friend/pinning wanna-be lover) had warned her that visiting Deidara would only cause anguish they had come to Leran to see each other. Her absence had grown long, and no longer able to sit behind as the men of her past kept her caged in the reminders of their romance Sai had taken it upon himself to find her, confess, and take her away from the pain to a life and love she deserved.
Needless to say, he was popular.
Just as Sakura had once told him before she had promptly launched Naruto into the Stratosphere, you catch more flies with honey. He didn't understand at that time the concept of wanting to catch flies, had even pestered her endlessly about the odd saying, but now as he sat in the dingiest of bars with a woman fairly grinding into his lap the ink user felt he had become a master of that particular proverb. He'd have to thank the Medic when she was back to being herself, if only to see her face flush lively with frustration and embarrassment as her weakened state made it impossible to punish him. Not to say he didn't like Sakura now, her hands touching him without invoking the need for medical chakra afterwards was rather nice, but their roles reversed as teacher and student on the subject of social interaction was wearing on him. Still, her hands on him were rather nice…
A rough jut from the hips of the female before him scrapped angrily against his rather delicate male parts, causing the formal smile he usually wore to crack around the edges. His mind turned from gentle touches to the forward actions of the creature in front of him, and whereas other males would get into the flow of the rocking motion Sai didn't think it was appropriate, what with his role as tragic pinning hero. She seemed to be oblivious to his plight though, merely draping her arms around his shoulders as she scooted in closer. Did all women in taverns layer on powder to hide the lines around their eyes? He felt the urge to ask, only to remind himself he was supposed to be charming. Laying his hands upon her hips to stop her cheese grater motions, he slowly slid her back along his lap to rest on his thighs. She seemed put-off by the action, all to ready to snap back at him with the lash whip of a reed only to settle as he rubbed soothing circles into her hips with his thumbs. Really, being an artist did give him such wonderful hands.
She near melted into the motion, wriggling in his hold as her eyes glazed over with disgusting amount of lust. Good thing his pleasant mask hardly ever cracked, her gaze directed at him made him feel tainted in ways he would have to create words to describe. "Now then, what was it you heard about Deidara?" She quivered against his touch, focusing on his mouth as it formed those words. He must have been some sort of Godly level of Handsome by the way she honed in on him. You would think his tale of dashing heroics would label him off limits, what with his heart solely directed in the purpose of obtaining his Pink-Haired Lover. The Tavern Maid seemed none too ashamed to be shamelessly upon him though. After a few flirty touches and compliments on how her shirt made her chest look like fabulous, he merely had to pet the woman to pull out an answer. He had learned much from reading books. It was good to see that he could use it practically as well.
He had left her passed out in his room, aided by a pressure point at the back of her neck and with the frayed ends of her half-formed leads had started out of the village towards the higher mountain pass to the West. The information she provided was hardly helpful, being similar to what he had read in the reports left by Kiba, but there was one fact she threw in that was different. She stated that she had seen the blond man, Deidara, at least one more time after Kiba had "assaulted" her. She said he was asking the barkeep about supplies to head to Mountain Pass. By now, the trail would be cold and rather useless, but it was his job as a Shinobi to investigate the possibility to the fullest.
Oddly enough, the words of a roadside fisherman made him wish he hadn't pushed the issue at all.
About three hours outside of Leran a small dock was built out onto a river. Seeing as The River was generally a logical place to fish, which is where said Fisherman was found. Through simple pleasantries, Sai learned that this particular fisherman made his living through this river and this specific spot, and was there every day rain or shine. When questioned about a man that fit Deidara's description, the Fisherman nodded and said that he had indeed passed through a while back, but not alone. No. Upon his back he carried the form of a pretty woman, the man said, assuming it was his wife. Information compiled had led to no assumption that Deidara had an accomplice in the kidnapping of Sakura, and as such the ink user moved to obtain details on the female. The fisherman said he didn't see too much of the girl, she was wrapped up in a cloak and curled up against the blonds back, but the one bit of information he did give Sai sent the ink users blood cold. The woman had hair a shade of pink that looked like cherry blossoms.
Kiba felt horrible. Well, no. He shouldn't lie, should he? He felt morally conflicted. He was a despicable person, down to the very core of his breathing worm-food body. He would have been ashamed, so mortified by his own tactics, if not for the fact that they worked. By God, training Sakura like he trained Akamaru actually worked.
It had only been a day into Sai's absence when his daily report to Tsunade had the woman upping his investment into the development of Sakura's Verbal Skills. It seemed that Sai's purpose wasn't only to entertain the woman with pictures of squirrels and birds, but to also expand her vocabulary and how to associate it to things. Often, Kiba just glowered at the pair as they went through the simple exercises. Now, he was given the task of being the Mentor in absence of the Ink User. Sakura did not take him seriously. His attempt to use picture books or pointing out live examples resulted in her giggling rather cutely in his direction, repeating the words as if they were playing some sort of game. Next to her, Piko would bark along in matching syllables, equally entertained. It was no question they made little progress. The second day had the same result, and when he went to report the Hokage had threatened a cut off of visitation time if he didn't do something to stimulate the woman's mental capabilities. As such, Kiba resorted to the only tactic he knew to teach another living being. He used rewards.
At the moment he was sitting on top of the bed assigned to the amnesiac patient in question, flash cards in hand. Before him sat Sakura, a concentrated look upon her face and Piko curled in her arms, mimicking the expression as both focused in on the picture the flashcard showed. Her brow furrowed in concentration before she looked up at Kiba, eyes unsure. Slowly, her mouth formed around a word. "… Kakashi-Sensei?" And sure enough, on the front of the flashcard was a photograph of the masked man, grinning brightly. As he had done before with every other answer she got right, he picked up a small chocolate from his side, unwrapped it foil, and handed it to the woman to indulge in. The look of pure happiness at her achievement beamed bright over him, and yet again another strand of his soul was shredded at the repetition of the traitorous act.
Damn that blond busty overlord of a Hokage, saying that this kind of training was necessary. Sakura was associating very well to the world around her and learning well with routine. She had even grown comfortable enough around the masked ANBU asked to watch over her ward to smile and wave at their stoic appearances. Last he noticed she had even started naming them after their masks. Hawk-Kun was the one she most played with during the mornings. Kiba didn't like Hawk-Kun. Despite this though she wasn't displaying any signs that she was remembering anything. Her chakra control was none-existent, her skills as a ninja were absent, her recognition of anything not related to Sai or Kiba was dim. Even around Tsunade herself, the pinkette was nervous. So rose the task of teaching Sakura faces and names in hopes that it'd trigger something in her half-active brain. He and another of the ANBU Guards (not Hawk-Kun) had spent nearly two hours trying to get a clear picture of Kakashi alone. The lengths he went to for the right to spend time with a woman with the mental prowess of a four-year-old. Noticing his student ever eager to move onto the next card (and another treat), Kiba steeled his soul against his own morals, switched the flash card, and started the process all over again.
Finishing his report, Sai flourished his brush over the ink and brought it to life. The symbols pulled off the parchment and took the form of a small bird before taking flight, headed back towards his home. The contents of the message were as disturbing to Sai as it would be for the Hokage to digest. There were very few people he knew of who had naturally pink hair. In fact, in all his life it was only Sakura that he could safely say was a natural pink. He doubted that it was common outside of their village, judging by the stares they would receive whenever she traveled on missions outside of their borders. The woman could very well have simply dyed her hair that particular color, but there was only so much one could count for coincidence. As such, it left the very bitter sentiment that the Sakura they had at home could possibly be a fake. The idea made the hair along the back of his neck stand on edge.
Watching the bird disappear into the endless blue, the ink users mind fell back to the first time he saw Sakura since her return. He may not have been outwardly able to express his concern through his awkward ways of communication, but for him the Ink User was painfully aware that his female teammate was missing. It had almost become essential for him to talk to her on a daily basis, his studies at the Library bringing him to her office for her to relay the text to practical situations. As such, it wasn't rare to see the two of them together burning the late night oil in her office. She would be surrounded by paper work and he would be surrounded by texts. His questions were a welcomed break from the monotone report filing, and her insight made his personal inquisition fruitful. There were rumors of the two of them and what kind of relationship they really had, but then again there were rumors of Sakura with all of her teammates. Several times he had moved to correct them fearing the slander would irritate one of his closest friends, but she had merely smiled sweetly at him and said not to worry about what others said. She liked spending time with him, regardless of the gossip mill.
The missions for Sai were technically much shorter than those of Kakashi, Naruto, and Yamato. His efficiency and lack of charisma made him more tuned for… quicker, jobs. As such, it was often just her and him partaking in the act of being teammates. They trained together, often when he visited he brought her food (for she hardly ate at the Hospital), and it wasn't rare for her to drag herself half-dead into his humble studio apartment and straight into bed next to him. It wasn't something sexual. She craved the sound of someone breathing next to her. He found that having her there quieted the doubts in his own mind. It was little wonder he was the only one who knew she had a mission at all.
Her absence had left him counting the days until she would return. His visits to the Hospital ceased, and without that kind of routine he had fallen into lengthening his time in the Library and Training. He began to grow nervous the day after she was late. The days lengthened into a week, and as every hour crawled by Sai found his conversation skills plummeting. He offended more, and as such he talked less. No one seemed worried over Sakura, there was no black donned to mourn a loss, and so Sai merely let his anxiety out with ink upon paper. It was then that he had received the summons.
Emotions were hard for Sai to put names to. Physical symptoms, Sakura had told him, could only hint so much at what it was he was feeling. Listening to Tsunade's recount though on the Medic he so sorely missed left a sinking sensation that started in the middle of his chest and settled low into his stomach. It was… he didn't quite know what it was. Dread? Concern? Worry? Though he didn't know how to express it upon his face, he was sure the expression in the Hokage's eyes conveyed the turbulence he held within. He was then handed a mission, one far different from any he had been given before. Where his skills included infiltration and assassinations, this one demanded he act of a softer nature. Tsunade wanted him to be there for Sakura, to associate her with the world around her and try to trigger her memories. Mutely, he wondered if it was because of how close he and the Medic had become as of late or if was merely because those who should be doing this job had yet to return. He pushed his doubts aside though and accepted his new role. For Sakura, he could learn to be what she needed.
Tsunade had warned him that she was skittish around new people, fearful, and as such they had spent a good two hours in a staring contest. She glared at him distrustfully, the expression reminiscent to their early days as a team, and he returned her glare with an even soft smile. Not the fake one he work from habit and practice, but the lightest turn of his lips that he often held whenever they had conversations during quiet times. She didn't lighten up from her glare, and it only made Sai miss those quiet moments of reprieve hidden within the walls of his apartment that they once shared. It wasn't long after that that he had pulled out his sketch book, his smile just widening a tad as her curiosity piqued at his actions. That was familiar too, the way she zoned in on the bound sheets of paper in his hands. She shifted, half wanting to get a better look at his odd action while she battled with her anxiousness over his physical form. He glanced up from his work to watch the emotions of conflict flicker over her face, feeling an odd sense of amusement at her unguarded expressions, only to seem them change fully to one of delighted surprise as a small ink squirrel pulled from his sketch pad and padded out onto her bed covers. It took all but three minutes for Sakura to absolutely adore him and his creator, and with it Sai had become a shining star in her eyes.
During their short time together, Sai was sure there were no indications that she was anything but real. Yes, she may not have remembered him and yes, she didn't put him through a wall during any of his visits, but it was safe to say that out of all of his time observing those of his generation he had the most contact with Sakura. He knew the way she moved, had watched it with the keen observation of an artist. He was aware that despite her personality being more childlike that her expressions were the same. The way she laughed, the way she breathed, the way the wind played on her hair; all of those things were the same. To think that an imposter would be able to mimic any of those things was laughable. To think that he of all people would not be able to see through any façade, especially when it came to her was a claim that he felt to be extremely insulting. It angered Sai, an emotion that he knew all too well when it came to the wellbeing of his friends. He pushed him to dig deeper to find out just who and what was making a mockery over the one he held so close to his visions of home and heart.
Gauging the time through the position of sun, the ink user surmised he had wasted enough time reminiscing. The trail was old, and standing there would do nothing to bring him the answers he was under mission to retrieve. Shouldering his cloak heavy around his form, he turned his eyes away from the warmth in the East to the blistering cruelty of the mountain pass ahead.
- End Chapter 6
Time Since Mission Start: 1 Month, 3 Weeks, 6 Days
