Hi everyone, I am absolutely blown away by all the great response this story has been getting. I'm was so happy by the reactions to the last chapter! I was fearing that a lot of people would just be all "well **** this!" and you know flip their laptops shut hahah Thank you readers, you amazing people make me want to keep writing despite all my looming deadlines.

Sorry for the short chapter, and super duper sorry for being so late with updates- finals week- promise to update more consistently near the end of the month!

Possible last Sai chapter, should be all Ino from here on end- a) because Ino is the central character for my story and b) Sai is so difficult to write hahah

Disclaimer: Characters are all intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto. I am merely letting my imagination run wild with said characters. I earn no money from this but I do earn love, which is just as nice if not more :D

Also this, SaiIno, shorties, peak adorbs: Hands by Devektra.

XXX

Sai had no idea what had come over him at that moment. She was in his arms. So close it was muddling his thoughts. The warmth of her delicate body pressed against his own made his toes tingle and an unfamiliar heat started to pool at the pit of stomach- it was strange yet not at all unpleasant- and then she looked up at him with those clear blue eyes, mouth ever so slightly parted- he had the oddest notion to taste her, it was an urge so strong and primal he gave in without even thinking.

But she pulled away. His insides knotted painfully at the thought.

He leaned against the door of her current residence. The door he just slammed shut- possibly for good. The afterthought stinging far more than fading red mark on his cheek.

"Be honest Sai.. do you love me?"

Her words replayed in his head. What kind of question was that? He gritted his teeth, how in the world was he supposed to respond to that? Was it wrong of him to be honest?

"I don't want to be practice for your social skills, Sai."

Her voice rang in his ears making his insides roil. It stung to know that she felt used by him, he had always thought that other than team 7, she was one of the few people who had genuinely given him a chance at being normal- a chance at forming a real bond. Did she really think he had been practicing with her? Was everything so far a pretense on her end to help out the sad socially awkward Root boy?

He didn't want her pity!

His chest tightened painfully and his hands shook, he slumped down and buried his face in his hands.

"How do you think I feel? I don't want to be another one of your social experiments!"

How should I know how about your feelings when I can't even understand my own?- he thought bitterly. His breathing had become rapid and shallow, squeezing his eyes shut he tried to clear his head but everything was foggy.

"No more than I want to be your stand-in for Sasuke."

The words had poured out of him like molten iron; it was like cracking open a furnace- like they had been seething inside him for far too long and were finally set free. It was so unlike him, he never let feelings override his logic, ever,- let alone during a conversation, but then again as of late logic seemed to make little sense with regard to his actions around Ino Yamanaka.

But he had said more. Angry words. Spiteful words. Words he did not wish to think back on, and she had responded in kind- clearly hurt and furious.

However right it had felt to say at the time, part of him deeply regretted making her cry yet again. He wished there was some way to make her understand how unfamiliar and confusing this was for him.

His head hurt, he stood up once he was certain the adrenaline rush from his outburst had dissipated.

Perhaps he should go back and tell her everything, explain everything, but no he couldn't. Not when she explicitly asked him to leave. Could he? She made it so clear she wanted him gone. Yet, there was a lingering feeling inside him- that the very axis of his world had titled in all the wrong ways.

A new feeling washed over him to add to his current melting pot of emotions, he felt like he was breaking. Nothing made sense.

Was this what it was like to have emotions? Is it supposed to hurt this bad? If so, how could anyone stand it?

"Please, make it stop." He whispered mutely in his own hands, more to himself than anyone else.

XXX

He found himself outside the small furnished room that was assigned to him by the Kazekage, not clearly knowing how or when he ended up there.

His body felt heavy as he lugged himself across the room and propped down on the chair in front of a small worktable. His fingers immediately reached for the brush and bottle of ink.

Drawing was always his coping mechanism but as he stared down at the blank white sheet in front of him, he didn't have the faintest idea what to do.

He dipped the brush in ink. He wanted to draw, something, anything. But all he could think of was the look on her face- he had never seen anyone look that angry, he concluded she must hate him right about now. He had never cared much about the feelings of others but for some reason the idea of her hating him made him uneasy.

He dipped his brush again, but the paper remained blank.

He looked up and blinked vacantly. A moth circled a dangling lamp in dizzying circles. He watched as the circles got tighter and tighter .. until finally it got too close and the flames singed its wings. It fell to the floor with a soft thump, flapping its now useless wings futilely.

He hissed in frustration, slapping down the brush and sending specks of ink flying everywhere.

Perhaps that is what happens when you chase the sun. Get too close and the only thing you'll end up getting is burnt.

XXXX

Just when he thought he was about to snap, he heard a sharp rap on his window. His features flooded in relief when he noticed the small dog outside on the other side of the glass- word from the Kakashi Sensei- just what he needed to get his mind off the recent turn of events.

"Pakkun." He opened the window and greeted the ninken with what he hoped was a smile.

"Hey kid. You look like you just went through the ringer, everything alright?" The pug spoke gruffly in a voice that didn't quite go with his stature.

"Oh hmm I'm not sure. I've made someone very upset and…" and now she'll never smile at me again.

His voice trailed off as the gravity of the words sunk in.

"Ah that's a shame," The nin ken sat up on his hind legs and patted the back of Sai's leg, "Anyways, I got an urgent message from the Hokage."

Sai immediately stiffed and focused his attention on the messenger, "Is everything alright?"

The nin ken narrowed his eyes and scanned the surroundings, once satisfied that the privacy of the conversation would be ensured he motioned Sai closer, "There have been some disturbing reports, a large number of Shinobi have been disappearing and all trails point towards the Land of Silence. Also, the nation seems to be poaching missions too, but anyone sent to investigate never comes back."

"How odd…so there's no intel on them?" The ex-Root started to quickly analyze the situation.

"It's on a distant continent, communications are hard to maintain… we do know it's a samurai run nation." Pakkun shook his head, "I know it's not a lot to go on, we gathered a team of ten Anbu to investigate.."

"And the Hokage wants me to be a part of it." Sai finished for him.

Anyone sent to investigate never comes back. The words Pakkun spoke a second ago echoed in his head.

As a former member of the Root faction of Anbu he had willingly walked into missions that would be deemed suicidal by most, however he was different now. Now he had friends- he thought of Naruto and Sakura, of Captain Yamato and Kakashi Sensei- people who cared about him and whom he believed he cared for in return, it certainly made him perhaps value his life a tinge more but at the end of the day it was not like he had anyone to come back to. Would it really matter that much if anything happened to him? Would anyone really miss him? Perhaps that's why he was chosen for this mission, he was clearly one of the few people in Konoha with the least to lose. His resolve hardened.. only to be smashed to pieces by a faint recollection.

"You know that it isn't true! You're one of us now! All of us would be devastated if anything happened to you!"

She sat on his hospital bed, tears streaking down her face. Tears for him.

The thought of her concern over him made a strange warmth spread through his chest- but it stopped abruptly when he thought bitterly how that was then and clearly things were different now. He gritted his teeth as he focused more on the prattling nin ken.

"The conditions could be better but-" Pakkun continued oblivious to his internal turmoil.

The tone of the ninken's voice had given away how grim the odds were, but Sai was never the type to shirk from the call of duty.

"I'll do it, when do we leave?"

XXX

A/N:

Short chappie but WOOHOO we've finally hit Shikamaru Hiden territory~FINALLY! Hahah
Hope you guys liked the chapter- as always your comments and pointers are appreciated!

xoxo

Replies to reviews

maufullbuster21: OMG! Thank you for that shoutout eeeeajsdjagd the number of people reading The Bush Clover exploded since your tumblr post! I can never thank you enough!

elkyouya : Thank you for your almost 20 reviews in the span of a day! That was an amazing feeling for me! I'm glad you like my story and to clarify – yes the Ino from ch1 and the Ino in ch20 seems so different because she has changed! She's grown and now knows she's at a point in life where she really cant take another repeat of the Sasuke fiasco (going all out for a guy who doesn't want her back in the way she does)

PepsiColaa Soul Raider 116 SnowLili Thank you for trying to find out about Ino's current occupation, I myself spent ages on that wild goose chase hahah. Loved your nice reviews to the chapters.

porkycat ladycybele weekaa1313 GlitterVan Nikolai.K LoveGlutton Your appreciation for Ino's revenge mode was just what I was hoping for with that chapter!

hope you don't mind me not giving out individual replies to everyone , I hate not having enough time to properly thank all you amazing people the way you deserve

duchessliz aww Im so happy you think the way Im developing them seems in line with cannon, I know I had to add in a lot of stuff for drama but I feel every naruto love story needs a bit of ommpf hahah

Ireadnonstop Im glad you liked the banter between Sai and Ino, Sai's such a riot I laugh like an idiot when writing his lines.

bittersweet-temari Thank you for reading and reviewing! I was so amazed when I read your review, it feels surreal knowing something I wrote made you emotional at some point! Thank you soo much readers like you make me feel so much better about myself! And and and thank you for the concern over my health, I am sorry for the late updates- but as you said Im just trying to not bite off more than I can chew right now classes and exams are craaazy!

itchy uchiha LOL that's a clever name! And hahah sorry for keeping you up till 6am, I hope the chapter was worth it though otherwise I'd feel awfully guilty!

SnowLili That fight scene tore me up when I wrote it! In my head I could picture it so clearly, Ino scared of being in a one sided love affair again and Sai feeling like no matter what he does he always ends up being overlooked. I don't think Sai is jealous of Sasuke though I feel like as someone who tries so hard to understand people and make friends it is difficult for him to see everyone *Ino* fawn over sasuke despite how shit he *was* to everyone.

HerosReprise You were one of the first people to tell me to keep writing this fic, so if it wasn't for you I doubt The Bush Clover would make it past ch2, thank you soooo much for everything, your detailed reviews always put a smile on my face! Every time I update I literally wait for your review because once I read it, I know for sure whether what I wrote is worth reading or not! I hope you liked the lastest chapter- as always can't wait to hear your thoughts! Much love xoxo

Mari301 whore-sama fanofthisfiction TrashPhenom pamelaanderson deathnoteno1fan-codegeasslover Torat134 Nico Deh dax the unbelievable and the amazing guest readers! Thank you for all your amazing reviews! Your support and encouraging words keeps getting me to update whenever I get any free time! Thank you for everything!