Whoa, longest chapter ever! By the way, bribery really works on you lot! I did anticipate getting this out sooner, but things got in the way.

There are some IMPORTANT author notes at the bottom, so please take the time to read. Thanks.

Enjoy!


Qualities

Ch. 7: Jealous Man - Part Two


They had been traveling for three days now, the better part of which Sai had spent in silence. To make matters worse it had been raining for the last four hours. Not something one would expect this time of year in fire country, but there it was, a downright downpour.

Yamato had suggested they push forward. They were only an hour's travel from a small civilian-populated village at the edge of fire country which they could lay over in. An inn and a bath would do them all good.

Oh, and getting dry.

They were all traveling in silence now. Heads down, carefully traversing the soaked terrain. Yamato was scouting ahead, always on the lookout for danger. They didn't perceive any threats on this journey, however. It was glorified babysitting at best. An excellent paycheck, yes, but hardly worthy of its rank. Ginaro was not, by any means, worth attacking. He was not so close to the daimyo that his death would benefit anyone, nor was he really worth any monetary value. He certainly wasn't carrying anything precious. The freak storm they were experiencing was probably the greatest inconvenience they would receive on this mission.

Ginaro and Sakura were traveling behind Yamato. They had been inseparable thus far that day. Only now they weren't talking, only concentrating on how soaked they were getting.

Sai and Naruto were behind, seemingly doing much the same. The artist, however, was concentrating on something far more important.

Sakura.

She had denied his attempts at conversing the night before as they laid down to sleep. She had told him it was late and she was tired, in what he could only guess was something of an irritated tone. He had wanted to ask more about what she found humorous, as she had promised they would discuss it later. He assumed later meant, "later that day," but apparently he had been mistaken. Since then he hadn't had a moment to speak to her that she wasn't practically glued to their client's side.

He ground his teeth together as he shifted his gaze to stare at a single point in Kiyume Ginaro's back. Maybe, hopefully, if he stared hard enough-

"Hey, Sai," came a whisper from beside him.

He glanced at the kyuubi container who was trudging along, somehow managing to step into every single noticeable puddle along the way. Some time ago, Sai had arrived at the conclusion that he was doing it on purpose. He cocked his head in answer to the blonde.

"Is something the matter?"

The dark-haired boy merely shook his head to indicate that he was fine. Naruto eyed him suspiciously. The jinchuuriki may not have been the most perceptive fellow ever to walk the forests of fire country, but he knew when something was bothering his friends. Even if he was too blind to see what it was.

"You were staring pretty hard at Kiyume-sama, there. I thought his back was going to catch on fire," he held his hands up to catch a bit of rainwater, "Even in this!" He was still talking fairly quietly, a rare phenomenon for the hyperactive ninja.

Sai shrugged awkwardly, "I was thinking," he answered. Well, he was thinking… about Ginaro's back catching on fire. How had Naruto known?

His blonde teammate brightened up, "About what?"

"Things," he said vaguely.

Naruto frowned.


It was a great relief to everyone when they finally arrived in the small village. Fukiage was a relatively insignificant town that would normally be out of the way for traveling ninja, but Yamato had planned their route through it. Mostly consisting of farmers, it had little to offer. There was a single market/restaurant and a lone inn.

Yamato was quick to steer them toward the inn. They were quite the sight, four ninjas and a dignitary, soaking wet with cloaks and hoods, stepping into the small lobby. There was barely enough room to stand without bumping into one another, as their captain secured two rooms.

He wasted no time, and immediately split them into their respective rooms. Himself and the client in one, Sakura, Naruto, and Sai in the other. The wood-user was tightly wound at times about protecting important people, not that Ginaro was up there on the list. In any case, he insisted on staying close.

The medic-nin had shared a room with her teammates on more than one occasion and had no qualms about it. Naruto was scared perv-less by her angry fists, and Sai she never really had a problem with. Although he had been acting weird lately. Still, she could set almost anyone straight with a pointed look.

Before Sai had even gotten the door closed, Sakura was already peeling her wet clothing off. Kami, she was ready to be dry. She shouted something about being quick before disappearing into the bathroom and closing the door behind her. The inn was small, but quaint. Sakura wished it had a hot spring, but was thankful for the tub in the bathroom. Hell, she was thankful for the bathroom.

Sai removed his cloak before glancing at the two beds. Sakura typically shared with Naruto, if she shared at all. It was then that he had a brief, but startling thought: He wished Sakura would share a bed with him tonight. He nearly stumbled over the medic-nin's discarded cloak as he recovered from the thought. He didn't know where it had come from, but as he rolled it around in his mind for a moment longer than before, he decided he agreed with it.

The artist was the last to take his bathroom time, that was simply the order of things. He never did mind waiting until last, and so he did. He spent nearly his entire bath contemplating his situation. It seemed whenever he tried to speak with Sakura, he was interrupted or pushed away by Ginaro. He was really starting to have trouble quelling his violent thoughts toward the man. He tried to think back to which of his exploits had gotten the medic-nin's attention most. He remembered that she seemed rather upset whenever he had tried to be sexy. But she had turned that light pinkish color that she seemed to wear so often around Kiyume-sama. Perhaps it was the desired effect.

And so it was decided, he would attempt to be sexy again. He thought over what he had learned from the movies he and Tenten watched, and decided that foregoing his shirt would be a decent first step.

As he emerged from the bathroom and padded across the floor, wearing only his shorter black pants, Sakura barely cast a glance at him before returning to her study of a scroll. He frowned slightly before grabbing his sketchbook and propping himself against the wall opposite her. Naruto had flopped across his bed and had his chin propped in his palm, twirling a kunai in the other hand. He looked positively bored as he considered throwing it at the wall above Sai's head. He was about to, when Yamato entered the room. He had food in tow and a smirking Ginaro was trailing behind.

"I thought we could all eat together in here," he commented, as he passed the small boxes of food around. Everyone was magnificently excited to be eating something besides instant ramen. Except maybe Naruto, but he didn't complain.

Ginaro eased himself on the bed next to Sakura, as Yamato simply leaned against the wall. Sai eyed their client's bold action, something akin to anger flashing in his eyes.

Kiyume-sama struck up a conversation with the medic-nin, who chattered away eagerly as her mood was considerably brightened by bathing.

When their meal was finished, Sakura turned to Kiyume-sama and suggested she give him a brief check-up. He nodded and yanked his shirt off in one swift movement.

"You didn't have to…" Sakura faded off as she trailed her eyes up from his exposed chest to his boyish grin.

Sai's pencil strained under his increased grip as he watched the two of them. Sakura's hands, glowing green on Ginaro's bare chest. Her eyes closed in concentration, as her patient studied her. He tried desperately to ignore them, but he couldn't. It felt as though his world stopped, as though time stopped, and all he could see was them. It felt like an eternity to him, like it would never end - Ginaro staring that way at his Sakura.

His Sakura. That wasn't what he meant. Of course she wasn't his, but she was more his than she was Ginaro's, right? He had no privilege to be looking at her that way, invading her space like that.

The pencil in Sai's hand snapped, bringing everyone's attention his way. Sakura's green glow was interrupted, Kiyume-sama's assault on her senses went with it. Even Naruto and Yamato (who had previously gone unnoticed by Sai) spared a glance at him.

He tossed it unceremoniously in the trashcan, secretly congratulating himself on breaking a certain someone's concentration, and fetched a replacement.

At long last, Ginaro and Yamato retired to their rooms. It was not without a goodnight and a lingering look from Kiyume-sama, which left Sakura looking a little flustered as she prepared her bed. Sai was flooded with a strange mixture of feelings. Relief? Anger? He wasn't sure, but it felt like whatever had been sitting on his chest finally decided to get off.

Typically, Sakura got first choice regarding sleeping arrangements. Sai understood that it was because she was a girl, and therefore had some sort of inalienable right. He still didn't really understand, but apparently it was just a law. Usually if there was only one bed at the inn, she got it. Naruto and Sai would make their own and sleep, much like they would outside. If there were two beds, as was the case right now, it went one of two ways. Either Sakura took one bed, while the other two shared. Or she and Naruto shared, while Sai slept in the other.

Tonight, the situation was of the former variety. Apparently Naruto had offended Sakura with some comment about Ginaro, and was therefore banned from her bed. Sai agreed with the comment, but decided not to voice his opinion, lest he be banned from anything as well.


Sai lay, staring at the ceiling, studying the strange shapes that were cast upon it by the moonlight and unknown objects. He stole a glance at Sakura, who was on his left, only two arms lengths away, on her bed. Her back was to his, leaving him unaware of her state of consciousness. He then glanced at Naruto, who was sprawled across his half of the bed, face twitching on occasion. He shifted his eyes back to Sakura. He really wanted to talk to her, but she seemed to be stuck to their client by some crazy-sticky cosmic force during the day.

He frowned slightly, it would have to be now. He gently pulled the blanket back, but stilled, as his blonde teammate snorted loudly, "…But I want to eat you for breakfast…" before flopping over on his other side. Sai continued, slowly extricating himself from the bed, as he silently hoped he didn't sound that foolish in his sleep.

"Sakura," he whispered, as quietly as possible, as he hesitantly poked her in the back.

She flipped over violently, her eyes shooting open, "Is something the matter?" she asked, her urgent tone leaking traces of her sleepy state.

"No." The artist shot a glance over his shoulder, only to find Naruto was still sleeping soundly.

The pink-haired girl blinked before rubbing her green eyes with her fists, "What do you want then?"

The ink user paused a moment, before easing himself down on her bed, "I wanted to talk."

"Now?" she asked, pink eyebrows rising.

Sai nodded, "I have not had the chance to speak with you during the day as you are busy entertaining our client." He braced himself for a physical assault.

None came as Sakura scooted over, making room for him on the bed. He settled beside her, feeling more confident than before, and relishing in the fact that she had let him.

"So talk," she commanded, her voice not carrying farther than him.

"I wish for you to explain Kiyume-sama's joke."

Sakura scrunched her face together and closed her eyes, "I don't remember, Sai. It's just… everyone has a different sense of humor."

He pondered this for a moment, but didn't reply.

She yawned and placed her head on Sai's shoulder, "Anything else?"

"Yes," the artist shifted slightly, glancing down at the kunoichi's position, "Why do you enjoy Kiyume-sama's company so much?"

"Mmmm, I don't know," she said tiredly, yawning again, "I just get along with him."

Sai rolled this thought around in his mind for a few minutes before coming to a conclusion. He and Sakura did not seem to "get along." She was always chastising him and getting upset with him. He worried that was why she did not enjoy his company as much as she did Ginaro's.

But more importantly, it appeared that Sakura had fallen asleep on him. He found himself in quite the predicament. His heart was presently thumping in his chest as Sakura unconsciously snuggled closer to him. He snuck a glance at her, as if doing so would get him in trouble. Her pink hair was washed out slightly by the glow of the moonlight. It illuminated her face only slightly, and her angle towards him made her face difficult to see. He could feel her breathing on his arm, and her warmth was contagious and intoxicating.

He felt frozen, as if the slightest move would jar her to her senses and he would be kicked out of her bed and back to the dreaming jinchuuriki. And he didn't want that.

Even worse, he felt like he had these weird fuzzy things crawling around in his stomach. It was very unsettling.

He glanced back at the pink-haired girl and slowly brought his fingers to her face, pushing some of her hair back. He had watched Ginaro do that several times, and had secretly wanted to see what it felt like. He savored the feel of her silky hair between his callused fingers as he gently ran them through her hair.

He didn't know how long he laid there, focusing on regaining his usual heart rate, all he knew was that he desperately wished to stay awake. He didn't want to miss a moment of this.


Sakura felt something large and warm next to her. She was cold and it felt so nice, so she snuggled into it. A large teddy bear, perhaps? A sexy man? Maybe it was Naruto. She sighed contentedly, either one would be fine with her.

But her brain was having none of it. It was busy forcing rational thoughts into her head, even as she fought them back. She was on a mission, in an inn. There were no giant teddy bears, and definitely not any sexy men. And Naruto was a worse snuggler than she was. Her eyes fluttered open and landed on a solid pale object. She reached up and touched it, causing it to move slightly. It was… a back? She jerked away and blinked rapidly, her eyes settling on her pale teammate's face.

"WHAT THE HELL, SAI!" she screamed before shoving him out of the bed.

He hit the floor with a thud and sat up, rubbing his forehead, "What?" he asked innocently.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she screeched, looking utterly scandalized as she held the blankets around her as if to cover something up.

Naruto had woken up in the commotion and glanced between the two of them, looking very confused and sleepy. He yawned, "What's the matter Sakura-chan?"

Just then, Yamato burst through the door, looking quite concerned, "Is everything okay in here?"

Sai who was picking himself up off the floor, ignored their captain's entrance, "You fell asleep on me, I did not wish to disturb you."

The kyuubi container gasped and stood up on his bed, "You were sleeping in Sakura-chan's bed?" he pointed at his dark haired teammate.

Yamato gave an imperceptible eye roll before deciding that it was best to let them work that kind of thing out on their own. He left without anyone noticing.

"What, after you disturbed me by waking me up to ask me a stupid question?" she shot back heatedly.

The artist blinked, "I am sorry," he said simply, "But it was the only time you were available." He forced a smile onto his face.

Naruto looked on in fascination as they both continued to ignore him.

"You…" Sakura threw a pillow at him as words failed her. Sai only continued to smile as he moved across the room and began pulling his clothing on.

"Knock, knock," came a smooth voice at the door.

"Come in!" Naruto called in reply, stepping down off of the bed.

Ginaro looked concerned as he strode into the room, "I heard a lot of noise in here, is everything okay?"

Sakura stepped away from Sai, "Yes, we're fine." She gathered her clothing and stepped into the bathroom, needing a moment alone. She glanced at herself in the mirror and noticed her pink-tinged cheeks. She hoped the ink user hadn't noticed.

Sai shot a glare at Ginaro, who was lingering in the room, gazing at the bathroom door. "We are trying to prepare for departure," he said pointedly.

Kiyume-sama's icy cold eyes snapped up to meet Sai's, "Of course," he said with forced politeness, before exiting the room.


The had ultimately departed Fukiage later than anticipated, but everyone was bathed, rested, well-fed, and in high spirits as they hit the road. They would be crossing over into Wind country in about half a day, putting them roughly halfway to their destination.

It couldn't come soon enough for Sai.

Naruto had become bored enough to invent a game whereby he attempted to name flavors of ramen in order of preference (He kept having to start over). He even tried to get Sai to participate, but he had said he didn't really care what flavor it was, leaving Naruto to rant for quite some time that it was, indeed, very important.

Sai had taken it upon himself to eavesdrop on Sakura and their client's every word, effectively tuning the blonde ninja out.

"Have you ever been to the Daimyo's palace?" Ginaro questioned.

The kunoichi shook her head, "Not the Wind Daimyo."

Their client grinned, as he often did to Sakura, "I would be happy to give you a personal tour."

Sakura, who was not especially graceful when receiving such male attention simply responded with an "Okay."

It angered Sai to listen in on their conversations, but he simply couldn't help himself. It always seemed to put him back in the position of staring a hole in Ginaro's back. He didn't even notice that Naruto and Yamato had switched positions.

Now, Yamato was no Kakashi. If he had been he probably would've figured out a long time ago what was going on. Instead, he simply directed a question at the artist, "Something the matter, Sai?"

"I am fine, Yamato-taichou."

"Are you certain?" he pushed.

Sai frowned slightly, there were only three people who could tell how he was feeling, even when he sometimes couldn't. Two of those people were walking in front of him, and the third was back in Konoha, wrangling ninja-wannabe-brats. Was it that obvious he was troubled?

His captain leaned down closer, "You're glaring," he whispered, effectively answering the question. "What's bothering you?" Yamato wasn't normally one to insert himself into his team's business, but damn it, he was getting kind of bored on this mission. He would never admit this.

"I do not know," the artist answered truthfully.

The wood manipulator silently cursed himself for doing this, "How do you feel?"

Sai's jaw tensed, "Angry," he answered almost immediately.

"About?"

"I do not know," came the monotone reply.

"Is your anger directed toward someone?"

Sai closed his eyes for a moment before nodding.

"At…?"

The ink haired boy didn't respond, but instead returned to glowering at their client, his teeth grinding together in frustration.

Yamato followed his gaze and watched for a moment. Sakura was laughing and talking animatedly with Ginaro, who was smirking at whatever it is she was telling him. The team captain chuckled, realization hitting him like a freight train. How had he not noticed?

"I do not find it humorous," the ink user commented.

Yamato was about to point out that he had never witnessed Sai finding anything humorous, but decided against it. "I know what's wrong," he stated instead, "You're jealous."

"Jealous?" the artist inquired, cocking his head as his curiosity overcame his anger for a moment, or rather, jealousy.

His captain nodded, "You're angry that someone has something you want." He immediately felt bad about referring to Sakura as "something," but he decided it was the simplest way to explain the concept to the naive ninja.

"Why?" was his only response.

Yamato shrugged, "It's a human response, it happens to everyone once in a while."

"No," Sai deadpanned, "Why does he get what I want."

Yamato lowered his voice even more, "I wouldn't be concerned, Sai. We'll be to our destination soon, and things will be back to normal."

The artist wanted to say that he didn't want normal, because normally she didn't give him as much attention as she was giving Ginaro, and he wanted that. But when he glanced back where Yamato was previously walking, he only saw his blonde-haired teammate.


It was nearing nightfall now, and the temperature had begun to drop rapidly, as they were now in the desert. The wind had picked up and was carrying stray particles of sand on its back.

Sai had taken to watching Ginaro with tempered curiousity, deciding that perhaps he could learn something from him. He had been right about the hair thing, Sai did enjoy the feel of Sakura's hair between his fingers. Besides, Yamato had said he just needed to wait. They would be rid of the infuriating client soon enough, he just had to be patient. And he was very good at that.

"Are you cold?" Kiyume-sama asked with concern lacing his tone. Without waiting for an answer, he began to remove his cloak.

"I'm alright," came Sakura's answer, but Ginaro didn't seem to be listening as he placed his cloak over her shoulders and smiled at her. She dipped her head and muttered a thanks.

Sai made a mental note to remember that in the future, but was caught off guard as their client turned around and smirked in his direction.

The artist frowned. He wasn't sure why, but that simple glance sparked an even greater hatred for this man than before.


When the team reached Suna, it was a huge relief. Gaara accepted them with open arms (figuratively, of course), and offered them accommodations for the night.

They were lavish compared to the inn they had stayed in a couple of nights before, and the food was magnificent.

The Kazekage had expressed his pleasure at the fact that Kiyume-sama was well healed and praised Sakura for a job well done.

They were each given their own quarters in the Kage's tower, and were assured that it was absolutely safe. Yamato even got to rest away from their client for the evening.

They had all decided to hit the hot springs. They were already babysitting, why not make a vacation of it? Temari agreed to join Sakura, as she wanted to catch up on things (Read: Ask about Shikamaru). The boys headed out to their own, Kankuro and Gaara had declined.

After they had soaked for some time, Yamato and Naruto had decided to retire, leaving Ginaro and Sai alone.

"You're interested in Sakura," Kiyume-sama stated bluntly, after the others had left.

Sai glanced at him, but did not respond.

"You should stay out of my way, ninja. I always get what I want."

The artist still said nothing, but had the sudden urge to check on Sakura's well-being, so he departed the spring.

Clad in only a towel, he burst into the women's spring, "Sakura!" he called, despite the fact that she was hard to miss, pink head sticking out above the steaming waters.

She squeaked and reached for her towel, "Sai! What is wrong with you! It says WOMEN'S!"

Temari smirked, "Hello, Sai. Come to join us?"

He ignored the blonde, "Are you okay?" his question was clearly directed at the medic-nin.

"I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be? Now, GET. OUT." She pointed at the entrance to the spring and gave him her sternest look.

"He's hot," Temari commented, after he was gone.

"And strange," Sakura muttered.


Important:: The semester is starting next week, so updates will probably slow down. How much? I'm not sure, we'll see. Apologies in advance, but I will still be actively working on this and other stories.

Important:: If you have the chance, go and check out Eryxl's fic, {Naruto, Mr Ramen}. It's a crack fic about Naruto meeting the love of his life: Miso Ramen! Check it out!

Not so important:: If you typically skip over my rants, now would be the time to stop reading and hit the REVIEW button.

BIG BIG thanks to my reviewers! If I didn't reply to your review, it's because I'm behind and I was working hard to get this chapter out! Please forgive me!

I unwittingly wrote myself into a Suna situation, and was not prepared to write those characters, so their dialogue is limited to non-existent. I may fix this in the next chapter. If you want any special action from any specific Sand character, give me a shout out and I'll see what I can do.

Also, this chapter feels rushed and kind of random, but I had a lot of ground to cover and I wanted to move on, so this is it! I wrote alot of this in the wee hours of the morning/ late night, so hopefully it actually makes sense. One can never be sure.

Shadowgirl0616:: I know I promised Shino would be in the next chapter, but I'm going to have to move him over once more. He'll definitely be in Chapter 9!

...Next Chapter...

The mission concludes! Sai is forced to take drastic action... old school style?

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