Chapter 14:
Fumihiro slept in his room as he normally did. Ino stayed in the room she shared with her teammates. Sakura was concerned Ino might be given her own room or be asked to spend the night with the young lord but thankfully that wasn't the case. He was being a gentleman. He also seemed to be giving Ino time to mull over the decision at hand while not isolating her from her friends at the same time.
Their beds were lined up in a row, the girls at each end, Naruto and Sai in the middle. Sai was between Naruto and Ino.
He looked over at the girl in the next bed, wondering if she was asleep or not. She made no sound. Even if she did, he couldn't hear it over Naruto's snoring.
He felt the urge to talk to her but didn't know what to say. It was an odd and frustrating feeling to have the desire to talk but have no topic of conversation. If he were to begin, he would be doing a lot of stuttering which might annoy her. He wasn't the type to ramble on and on but given his recent behavior he couldn't be certain of that.
Having Ino next to him put him at ease. He was happy to have her in his sight and away from the young lord. Oddly enough, despite being at ease around her, sometimes he felt self-conscious. He didn't want to do the wrong thing around her. He didn't like it when he messed up around his friends on any given day but messing up around Ino was… It felt different. It gave him a sense of inadequacy. He felt more embarrassed messing up around her than when he messed up around his friends. He valued her opinion. He wanted to impress her.
But why? He never cared about impressing her before.
He liked seeing her smile but when he caused her to smile just so, knowing he was the reason, he couldn't help but feel warm inside. He felt giddy which wasn't normal for him. He didn't show it on the outside, but on the inside, he was jumping up and down and laughing his head off. He felt invulnerable. His heart soared.
Afterwards, he felt weird. Knowing he didn't normally feel this way, once he calmed down, he was beside himself, wondering why he had done that or if it was correct. Sometimes he wondered if it was a mistake, but only because it wasn't normal for him. It felt good at the time but after the effect wore off he felt awkward.
Sai covered his head with his arms. He always knew he wasn't normal but this… This was different. He felt like someone else had taken over his body and was making him do all these weird things. By the time he returned to his senses, he was left wondering what and why he had done that. All these feelings swirling inside him… What did it mean?
He had a lot on his mind but managed to calm himself down after a few minutes. He told himself the feeling of uncertainty would pass and tried his best to fall asleep. Thinking of soothing things, he finally managed to drift off.
Sakura woke up before the others, just as the sun was beginning to rise. It was still dark but there was enough light in the room to see her friends. As she looked around to see if anyone else was awake she cupped her hands over her mouth to keep from squealing.
Sai had invaded Ino's bed and seemed to be cuddling her in his sleep. He was normally such a light sleeper and didn't move around very much. As if sensing she was beside him, he instinctively rolled over to be closer to her.
Sakura knew he knew what he wanted and this was proof.
If only she could take a picture of this. She wanted to wake Ino and show her what Sai was doing but she knew she couldn't. Not without risking waking Sai in the process. He would undoubtedly move after that.
When she saw Ino shift slightly, Sakura threw herself back onto the bed and pretended to be asleep.
Ino felt something pressed against her and turned her head to look. Sai had his arm draped over her stomach, his face resting against her arm. He must have rolled over on her in the middle of the night.
Finding him in such a position had her grinning from ear to ear. She could hardly contain herself, trembling with excitement. He had never done this before.
Her movement was enough to stir him from his slumber and he lifted his head, blinking sleepily.
Ino didn't want this moment to end. With every ounce of willpower, she forced herself to calm down and remain still. She moved a little closer to him, hoping he would cuddle her more. More than half-asleep, Sai let his head drop back down onto the bed. He smelled the sweetness of Ino's perfume, still clinging to her from yesterday. It was just subtle enough. Feeling comfortable, he settled into this slightly new position and continued to snooze.
Now Sai had Ino pressed against his chest as he slept, breathing down her slender neck.
Ino was tense, fighting hard to remain still. Finally, she relaxed and enjoyed the moment.
An hour later, everyone was awake and getting ready for the day.
"Good morning, Sai," Ino told him, in a good mood.
Sai had moved before becoming fully aware of the position he was in and never realize he had been cuddling her. "Good morning," he said to her. It was good to hear her say that to him.
While everyone else moved about the room, Sai remained where he was, eyes wandering vacantly. He was deep in thought.
"You ok?"
Sai looked up then looked down again. "Yes, I'm fine. Just thinking about a dream I had."
"What was it about?" Ino asked him.
"Um…"
He could only remember bits and pieces of the dream, but the bits he remembered were weird but very enjoyable.
In his dream, Ino was with him. The fragment he remembered most vividly involved Ino pressing Sai against a wall, kissing him. He was kissing her back, his arms wrapped around her body. She was whispering in his ear but he couldn't make out what she was saying in the dream. Their bodies were moving. He had never moved like that before. It was very pleasurable. In a confined space, pressing against each other in such a way, moving and kissing.
It excited him.
He had dreamed about Ino before but never like that. This was new.
He looked up at Ino who expected an answer to her question. Ashamed to tell her the details, he simply told her, "Um… Not much."
That dream…
Why did he have it? Was his desire coming out in other ways due to his hesitation and uncertainty? His subconscious seemed to know what he wanted. He thought he knew what he wanted but with his mind in a jumble, he couldn't be sure. He had to decipher these thoughts and feelings before he could be certain.
But it was a good dream.
The group had breakfast with the young lord. It was the quietest meal they had eaten together. Sai kept a close watch on Fumihiro who seemed to be working up the courage to ask Ino something. Sai had gotten much better at reading people and could tell from the way Fumihiro was looking at her with his jaw tightly clenched that she was the target and he was trying to gather his courage to say something to her.
It was probably the wrong move on his part, but Sai wanted to say something. Not because the silence was uncomfortable but because he wanted to express his desire in the only way he could think of.
"We should probably head out soon," he announced. "The Hokage can be pretty laidback but he won't be happy about us taking so long on this one mission. There might be more waiting for us by the time we get back."
He wanted to leave before Fumihiro could steal any more of Ino's attention. Temptation rose the longer they stayed.
To Sai's mind, he was protecting her. He also wanted to return home with his dear friend and carry on with his life.
Unfortunately, hearing that Ino might be leaving soon spurred Fumihiro into opening his mouth to speak to her. Sai's words gave him the push he needed, unwilling to let her leave so quickly.
"Miss Ino," he said. "Before you go, can I interest you in spending one more day with me? We never did go on that walk last night."
Sai balled his hand into a fist.
After seeing Fumihiro get worked up over seeing a rat, her vision of him changed slightly. A young man being scared of a rat wasn't very manly at all. However, she understood why he would get so startled and did find his sensitivity cute.
She wondered if Sai would try to stop them again.
With that thought in mind, she said, "Ok, sure. I guess one more day can't hurt."
Sakura rolled her eyes and Naruto rested his head on his hand, clearly irritated.
Sai had a sad expression on his face. Not because they would be here another day but because Ino wanted to.
She was losing interest in him, he thought. This made him feel rather sad.
He didn't want to hang out with his teammates. He wanted Ino.
He wanted Ino.
Realizing this, the answer was starting to become clear to Sai but there was still a thin layer of fog surrounding it. He was so close, he felt his heart racing with anticipation.
The longer he was around Ino, the clearer the answer became. He just needed that one last push to uncover the truth.
"You probably have to arrange everything," Sai blurted out before he could stop himself. "Why don't you let Ino stay with us until you're ready?"
"That's a splendid idea," said Fumihiro. "I'll have a servant fetch you once things are prepared. I wouldn't want to keep you from your friends. Please enjoy yourselves."
Sai felt himself getting excited again. He mostly felt relieved. He could spend time with Ino.
He didn't just want to hang out with her in order to clear this fog between him and the answer he had been trying to uncover but because he wanted to be with her. He enjoyed her company.
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