Sai could identify this feeling right away. It was nervousness. He was nervous as he knocked on the door to the Kazekage's hotel room, clutching the poem he'd spent all last night writing. He'd read in Consoling Your Lover that significant others respond well to poetry, especially when there's recently been a fight. A blonde girl answered the door, a quizzical look on her face.

"Who're you?" she sounded a bit annoyed.

"I'm called Sai." He smiled at her. "You must be Temari-san. It's very nice to finally meet you. Is Gaara home?"

Temari raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

"He is…but he's not…in a very good state of mind right now. She said, a sad look in her eyes. Sai reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know. I have something that will cheer him up. Please, have him come to the door?" He asked. Temari contemplated this for a moment, her eyes searching Sai's for any hint of deception. When she found none, she turned away.

"Wait here." She muttered, disappearing into the room .Sai heard hushed voices, and the shuffling of tired feet. And then, there he was. He was wearing a black yukata that reminded Sai of mourning attire one would wear to a funeral. His vibrant red hair was disheveled and his usually tired eyes looked even more sullen. But to Sai, he was still breathtaking.

"What do you want." His gravelly voice sounded almost dead. "I thought you got the hint."

Sai smiled sadly, a sharp pang of hurt coursing through his heart. "I've written you something. Please listen, Gaara-san."

Gaara scowled, and made to shut the door, but Sai stopped him by wedging his foot between the door and the frame. The raven haired boy unfolded the paper and began to read.

"It's dark in here

Inside my soul.

There's nothing here

Just an empty hole.

But what is that…on the horizon?

Suddenly, the darkness has gone.

I see your face, and suddenly,

My thoughts are filled with you and me.

You're my hope, my shining star.

I love you for just who you are.

You're meant for me, a gift from above.

My life, my pride, my one true love."

He recited hit slowly, as Gaara's mint green eyes peeked at him through the gap in the door. As the poem progressed, his eyes grew softer. Sai smiled as he finished, but when he went to fold the poem back up and put it in his pocket, Gaara reached out and snatched it from his hands. As he looked it over with a skeptical gaze, Temari appeared from behind Gaara. Her eyes looked dewy, like they were brimming with tears.

"Sai, would you like to come in for tea?" She said in a soft voice, putting her hands on her baby brother's shoulders. Sai nodded, smiling a little bit too much like Naruto.

"Gaara, go wash up." She said to the red head.

"Temari-" He warned. She looked down at him.

"Otouto, please listen."

Gaara's resolve softened at being called 'otouto'. He had a weakness for things like that now. Begrudgingly, the Kazekage trudged to the bathroom to wash up. Temari led Sai into the kitchenette of their hotel room. When she was sure they were alone, she turned to face him.

"Do you mean what you wrote? In the poem I mean." She asked urgently. He nodded, that smile still plastered on his face.

"Yes, of course I do. I assume you know about Lee-san?"

Temari hissed, her eyes darkening. "Don't use honorifics when referring to him. The Hokage had to physically hold me back from killing him last night when Gaara came home. But you…where do you fit into all of this? Gaara's never mentioned you before."

Sai rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, well…it's a long story-"

"He tried to catch me on the rebound." Gaara had returned from the bathroom, not looking much better than he had before. Sai frowned.

"Gaara, that's not true. You looked so…sad on that park bench, and I had been so…enraptured by you, ever since Team Seven and I traveled to your village." Sai felt like he was drowning.

"Bullshit!"

"Gaara!" Temari exclaimed. Her little brother almost never swore.

"No, Temari. Don't trust him. He's a deceitful, lying cockroach. He was trained to have no emotions, and he'll do whatever it takes to complete his mission. He's nobody! Sai isn't even his real name! He doesn't even fucking know what love is! He's nothing but a drone!"

Sai looked down to see that Gaara still had his folded poem in his hand. As tears once again slid down his face, he reached for the paper.

"I-I'll take that b-back, now." He sounded like he was six years old again, sobs choking his speech. Temari looked at him pitifully.

"Sai…"

"I'm sorry I troubled you, Temari-san…Kazekage-sama…" He bowed his head, and three large tears fell onto the linoleum flooring of the kitchen. .Thud. The sound was almost deafening.

Gaara glared down at him with disdain. "Get out." He hissed.

"Y-Yes, Kazekage-sama." He said breathlessly, practically running out of the room. And he didn't stop running until he collapsed on Naruto's doorstep. He banged on the door for a good ten minutes, and when no one answered, he felt like he would explode. He sat there, crumbled on the welcome mat, until someone finally came by.

"Sai-san. May I ask why you're sobbing in front of Naruto-kun's house?" Came an odd voice. Sai looked up to see Itachi Uchiha, standing there with his nine month old daughter, Kaiya. Sai wiped his eyes to compose himself.

"I-I…I've recently had my heart broken for the first time, and it feels…it feels as though a black hole has opened up in my chest, and it's swallowing everything." He explained in vivid detail. Itachi frowned, adjusting Kaiya's weight.

"Hn…well Neji-san is still away on his mission, and Naruto-kun has brought Kouhei to see Tsunade-hime. Perhaps you'd like to come back with me. Hinata is preparing lunch…you could talk with us. We're very good listeners. I know it's a bit difficult for you to open up to people, but I assure you, we're very friendly." The man smiled, and his daughter gurgled and reached out for Sai. "Hn…that's odd. She usually doesn't take to strangers."

Sai held his arms out, and Itachi placed Kaiya in the other raven's arms. He tickled the baby girls belly, inducing even more adorable gurgling. "Naruto's son was the same way with me the first time. I guess I'm a natural? Maybe it's because I see them for what they are. Yes, infants are precious and adorable…but there is more to them than that. They are helpless, and they need to be taken care of, and nurtured. That is something I never received as a child…and look where it got me."

Itachi smiled again, sadly this time, and slung his arm around the younger man's shoulders. "Come on, Hinata is probably wondering where I've gone."

XXX

When they arrived back at Itachi's cottage, Hinata was in the kitchen, preparing what smelled like a delicious lunch.

"Koibito! I was worried. Oh, and you brought a guest! Good thing I thought to make extra! I hope you like tofu…we like to eat what the baby can eat, too. She just loves this stuff!" Hinata said as she caught sight of her company. She saw that Sai was carrying her daughter, and smiled softly.

"Look, Kaiya-chan! It seems you made a friend. Kaiya had rested her tiny body against Sai's chest. Sai looked down at her.

"She's so quiet compaired to her cousin. Kouhei is going to be just like Naruto-kun when he gets older." Sai said as he placed the small girl in her high chair. She sat there expectantly, her large black eyes taking everything in. "I see she doesn't have the Byakugan."

Hinata turned back to cutting up the firm tofu into bite-sized blocks. "Yes, and it's just as well. I don't want them to stake a claim on her. And now, they can't. Her last name is Uchiha, and she doesn't possess their kekkei genkai. For all we know, she could have the Sharingan." The blue haired girl sounded determined. Sai smiled.

"I admire your conviction, Hinata-san."

XXX

After lunch had been consumed (Kaiya wouldn't eat a bite until Sai was the one who fed her) and the baby had been put down to nap (Sai had to do this also), the adults retired to the sitting room. Sai suddenly got nervous. Could he really openly talk about his situation to Hinata and Itachi? Sure, he'd spent at least some time with the Hyuuga girl, but Sai had only spoke to Itachi one time before today, and that was in passing. But, as he looked the other man over, he couldn't help but sense that he was wise beyond his years, given the life he'd been forced to live.

"So, Sai-san. You said something was troubling you?" Itachi was the first to talk, as Hinata brought out tea. She sat next to her husband, her opal eyes looking right through the painter.

"Yes…it's about The Kazekage. Y-You see…Lee has been cheating on him with Haruno Sakura. And I have been…infatuated with him since I first laid eyes on him. I saw him crying the other night, alone on a park bench…so I tried to comfort him and so many things happened and…I wrote him a poem, but he said…all of these terribly mean things to me. And so I ran here. I don't know what to do! I've never felt any of these emotions before. I feel like there is a rotting hole where my heart used to be…" He babbled. He buried his face in his hands. "I know, I probably sound pathetic."

Itachi reached out and patted the younger man's shoulders. "No, Sai-san. You don't sound pathetic. You sound like a man who is in love. I know of Gaara-sama's past. His relationship with Lee was the first romantic bond he's ever made, and only the second bond he's ever made outside of his siblings. If you keep trying, I'm sure you will break through. I think he needs someone like you in his life. You seem to really love him. I can tell, I can sense it."

Sai sighed, hanging his head. "That's exactly what Naruto-kun said…but it's going to be so hard to keep trying…this was only the first thing that I've tried and I already feel so…miserable."

Hinata caught his gaze. "Don't you think it'll be worth it, though? In the end, when you finally have him in your arms?"

Sai blushed. "Hinata-sama…"

"It's true though! Won't that make up for all the heartache and all the suffering?"

Sai gazed out the window, contemplating that thought.

"Yes…yes it will."