I Do Not Own Inuyasha

Chapter 37

Sai found that most of his free time was spent painting; mostly Beautiful, but she was easy to paint for some reason. He had already sketched out her many expressions, and he had decided he wanted to paint today. Besides, it was one of the few last days off he'd be having. After the holiday season was over he would be training the Root members to be like other ANBU members. And while he did not foresee any problems with this, he was going to be cautious about it. One had to realize that Root members would not be like the ANBU.

The ANBU had a code of honor; one of which Sai was learning very hard to master and accept as a part of himself and what he needed to do. It was important to have some honor as a shinobi; however, Sai also realized the reality of the fact that there was no honor in Root. In Root they had been taught to worship and follow Danzo with no question, they had been taught that killing members of Konoha was protecting the village, and that there was no need for honor in protecting the village.

But Sai was now coming to disagree, and the ethics books he had been reading, and moral debates he had with Ugly had him rethinking most of what he knew. And he found that it was going to take a lot of work for the former Root members to see the world as it was now. Also, that the world now, was far different from the world Danzo had hidden from them.

Sighing he slid his brush over the canvass and watched as the lines he created came to life to form Beautiful.

Why she was at the forefront of his mind for painting or drawing he did not know, all he knew was that her form slipped of his brushes and fingers effortlessly. It felt right to paint her and it felt amazing to bring her to life. Which was why he found it difficult to focus on much else.

However he did and he was going to work hard to keep it that way.

A knock on the door had him looking up as he reluctantly walked over, his hand falling onto a kunai he had tucked behind his back. Opening the door a bit he was greeted by Kakashi.

"Oh, hello, come in," he smiled as he stepped aside and let his mentor in, before again shutting the door. "What can I do for you Sixth Hokage?"

"Sai, we have a mission for you," Kakashi said as he sat at the table.

"Oh? What is it?"

"After the festival, you will be going to Shijima no Kumi," Kakashi said.

"Of course Hokage, may I ask why?" Sai said as he accepted the outstretched scroll.

"Shinobi of all villages are disappearing, I have a hunch that this land has something to do with it, there have been disturbing rumors from there."

Ino had greatly enjoyed Tenten's baby shower and being in charge of what they had been doing, though the other women hadn't had much of a say in the matter. No, Ino had taken charge, and they had fully celebrated the impending birth of Tenten and Neji's bundle of joy.

Ino had ten on it being a girl; that would royally irritate Neji.

But Temari was putting her money on a boy.

Sakura and Hinata were band from the betting because they knew what Tenten was having, and therefore would cheat. So, Ino had savored her moment as she now had Temari standing still on a coffee table as she hemmed it.

"I do have my own kimono," Temari restated for the group as they all chatted about the upcoming festival, and discussed what this would mean for their plans.

"Shush! You will not insult a respected clan of Konoha or insult Suna by showing up in a desert kimono to freeze your ass off at the festival, catch a cold and be at Sakura's hospital!" Ino snapped around the pins she had in her teeth.

"I doubt she'd be at my hospital," Sakura sighed.

"This is too much for the Rinne Festival," Temari countered blandly and Ino felt like yelling at the Suna kunoichi that this was the most important festival of the entire year, and that there was no such thing as too much when it was a formal festival!

"Have fun with it Temari!" Tenten called out with a smile.

"But this is a bit much."

"Not compared to what I will be wearing," Hinata countered softly. Ino's eyes narrowed when she again pricked her finger and she sighed. "It's the duty of a Hyūga to set an example for the rest of the village to follow."

"I get that, but… I mean, Ino, isn't this a family heirloom or something!?" Temari demanded, Ino sighed. It had been her mother's but with Temari's darker complexion it would look better on her, than it would on Ino.

"It is, and it's mine to give as a gift to who I choose," she snapped.

Truthfully, she wanted Temari to have this kimono, it would look better on her. Ino found she was too pale to properly wear the soft colors that her mother had loved, it would wash Ino out and that was wholly unacceptable. But with Temari… it worked far better.

"I just… isn't it a bit much for a village festival?" Temari sputtered again.

"No, it's a bit little, but at the Rinne Festival, very few things are too much," Sakura countered. Ino just thanked Kami that her fashion-less friend knew that much as she continued to hem the Kimono.

"Fine, but if he says this is a drag it's your fault Ino!" Temari growled.

"I doubt he'll be able to for a thought when I'm finished with you," Ino assured the older woman with a smile. Truthfully she already knew that Temari messed up Shikamaru's thinking, so it was now time to blow it to smithereens.

"I see," Sai said as he leant back on his counter and absorbed everything Kakashi had just told him. it wasn't unfathomable, it was quite the opposite really, but the idea of it.

"We need someone to scout the area, and you have the training, expertise and skills to do so," Kakashi said.

"I will do it, but it is a lot to think of," Sai admitted as he rubbed his temple and chose not to worry about the implications of failure on this mission. Failure was rarely an option for him, and he wasn't going to let himself fail because it was impossible. He had been Root, impossible missions were his normal and that would never bother him, but the unknowns of this…

It was something to think about and think on carefully. But he knew he was going to go, he knew it in the marrow of his bones. He would go, and he would do this, and he wouldn't care about his life until his mission was complete.

"Thank you Sai, I know you have a date, and most the passes have been snowed over, so you leave at the first sign of melting," Kakashi said.

"That will not be necessary, I can fly out of Konoha, and will go on the mission, after the holidays," he said respectfully.

"Very well," Kakashi said. "This is a solo mission though, give us as much intel on the fanatics as you can and then get out of there; we don't need another good shinobi vanishing."

"Yes Hokage," he bowed a bit and Kakashi left in a puff of smoke. Sai slowly sat at his table as he started reading over the mission and what was going on, he pulled out the sealed files and started reading through them. There was an impressive list of people missing from the war; some were AWOL, MIA, and KIA, and all of these were being thoroughly investigated to ensure that the villages had all their dead, deserters, and traitors to deal with as they saw fit.

Sai did not fully understand how people could willingly go AWOL, but then he was Root, and AWOL was something they didn't do.

Sighing he put all the files back, sealed them within the scroll as he slipped it into his pack and resumed his painting of Beautiful. It was clearing to his mind and heart, but still, the thought of her dating Kiba, it was painful. Sighing he decided that this mission would be the time he needed to get his head straightened out and his emotions under control. Ino did not need him in this village, of this he was certain and he needed to figure out what was going on with himself, but himself.

Talking to Ugly had helped, but now it was his time to figure the rest out because it was important to him. still, he brought the painting of Beautiful to life with his mind's eye.

After waving off her friends after the party she rounded the block and found herself slamming into Kiba.

"Hey, whoa," Kiba caughter her and she stared up at him.

"I thought you were on a mission," she gasped.

"I was, but I thought to come back in time for the Rinne Festival for my girl and I to go," he grinned and she smiled as they walked together, she slipped her arm in his and listened as he filled her in on all the on goings of what he had been doing. Ino half listened, she couldn't find his mission interesting though; try as she might. It was just a hunting mission and to her that was about as interesting as being tossed into a tank of piranhas. No matter, she would indulge her date.

Kiba grinned and then she gasped when he pressed her up to a wall, his mouth on hers, his hands in her hair and his body pressing in on her.

"Kiba!" she gasped when he pulled away.

"Sorry, I just really missed you and you smell like other guys," he growled softly as he kissed her softly again.

"I… I missed you too," she lied and smiled sweetly at him when he nipped her bottom lip and pulled away.

"Why do you smell like other guys?" he demanded, a red flag went off in her head but she ignored it.

"I do have male friends Kiba, Sai, Ibiki, Shikamaru, and Chōji, I hang out with them too," she pointed out flatly. She was going to enjoy her time with her boyfriend, arrange to have dinner with Ibiki tomorrow and be ready for the Rinne Festival. She wanted to look gorgeous for Kiba since the Festival was only a few days away.

"Oh, could you… not hang out with them?" he asked.

"Huh?" she blinked, not thinking she had heard him right as she stared at him from the corner of her eye.

"Never mind," he sighed as he rubbed a hand on the back of his neck and sighed.

"I'm glad you had a successful mission," she admitted as she walked with him.

"Yeah, it was great," he admitted as he slung his arm around her waist and pulled her close. Ino snuggled into him and tried to make this feel right, it could feel right, it had the potential to feel right. But there was something nagging at her right now as she imagined Sai's inky eyes. It wasn't right to fantasize about another man when one was with their boyfriend; was it?

Ino sighed and his her face in Kiba's shoulder as she tried not to think about it and tried to enjoy her boyfriend.

Everything was getting confusing.

"Hey, how about we go to dinner tomorrow?" Kiba asked her.

"Can't, I'm going with Ibiki, but I'm all yours for the festival," she smiled and tried to giggle a little.

Kiba frowned slightly before grinning at her.

"Great," he said and kissed her again.

Sorry for missing the update this weekend, I had no internet.

That's all for now folks!

Enjoy Until the Day I Stumble! =)