"I don't understand the problem…" Sai's fists were folded, clenched on the tops of his thighs.

Ino stared at him, patient tapping a fancy pen against her lower lip as she pondered. "Have you ever heard of attachment styles? As a root ninja, it's unlikely that you were briefed on these things. The Academy wasn't exactly flowery in their treatment of mental health and I can only assume that some of what you have went through at the hands of Danzo in Root was meant to break you in a way you were told was productive."

It felt like a magnetic weight was pushing down on the top of his head."I have not. Is something wrong with mine?"

"Well," Ino began, "it's just different than most. It's quite common for a lot of shinobi who grew up in wartime to have an avoidant style. Given your lack of physical affect, I had anticipated you would have developed that style. However, your style is actually 'fearful avoidant.' This means that you desire intimacy but are deeply frightened by it. Would you say that your caregiver growing up was a source of pain, as well as comfort?"

Sai's brows furrowed ever-so-slightly as he considered her question. It felt like there were large holes in his psyche, places where information had pooled and then vanished. Briefly, he considered the times with Shin. No, he had truly been a comfort. Who had raised him?

"Ah… Danzo-sama was… He is the only one I remember."

Her pen scribbled on the board. It annoyed him that this information would be stored and potentially viewed by others. She looked back up at him when she was done writing, tilting her head to the side and softening her gaze. She waited for him to continue.

"I do not know what this has to do with anything."

She was surprisingly gentle in her response. "With the absorption of Root forces into the general populace, we need to be able to determine your skill set and general response patterns. Most of the others are… their psychological breaking was more complete."

Sai dropped his gaze to his lap, studying his clenched fists. "I am aware that they were better, more complete tools than myself." Guilt puddled in his stomach like bitter acid.

"On the contrary. Tsunade feels that you are far more useful to her as a human being, not a robot."

His gaze flicked back up to her and to her surprise his gaze was sharp, the corners of his mouth turned down just slightly. He was furious. "I do not understand."

Ino stood up, fluidity and grace in her every limb. She held out a scroll to him, and he accepted it to open it. He unrolled it slightly to see the Hokage's official seal before opening it further.

'Hey, brat. The war is over. I want you to live a long life and produce children for the village. However, part of building a family requires that you know how to steward it. I'd like to see you functioning at full health; this includes reclaiming what Danzo stole from you. I cannot heal your mind, which is why I sent you to the Yamanakas. I am grateful for your continued services. Don't let me down.'

He glanced out the window, listening to the sounds of the children playing on the street nearby. It was true. He would not have the skills to raise a human with his current emotional intelligence. He wasn't sure how to react appropriately during birth, either. He had heard women were terrifying when delivering a child. Would the woman break his hand, squeezing it too hard?

The woman. He snapped his eyes towards Ino an uncomfortable feeling rising within him. "Ah… How am I supposed to find a woman?"

"Let's focus on finding you some friends first, ne?"

He nodded. On the outside, he looked as he always did when he accepted a mission. Inside, it felt like his innards were being sautéed in a vat of acid.

\(o.o)/

Sakura pulled the kunai out of the target in front of her. Bullseye as always. Not that Sasuke was around to appreciate her growth as of late. Ever since he'd come to the village, he was tucked away undergoing rigorous (often torturous) interrogations to be sure that he would not betray the village again.

The pain he was going through upon coming back didn't make sense to her and it wasn't as though Tsunade or even Naruto particularly wanted it to be that way. The council, even without Danzo's underhanded dealings, were forcing her hand. Sakura checked the end of the kunai, looking for any chips in the metal. Most ninja wouldn't be bothered to use a tool with compromised integrity, but she used so much force that she needed to be able to rely on the integrity of whatever she threw.

Once she'd thrown a chipped kunai so hard at an enemy ninja that the impact of it entering his skull was at such a perfect angle that it chipped further and broke into shrapnel, wounding his compatriots. She didn't want it to be her or her allies next time.

There was a distinctly human rustle in the tree next to her. She looked up from the smooth metal of her weapon to see Sai standing on a broad branch, his left hand resting on the trunk of the tree. His face was impassive but she could feel the bubbling, roiling nature of his chakra. Panic. She'd never seen him like this.

In a second she was by his side, her own anxiety welling up in her belly. "What's wrong?"

"Me."

Like wind snuffing out a flame her anxiety was gone, overcome with confusion. "What?"

"I am… something is broken in me." Healing chakra was swimming through his gut before he could object. Sakura's hands hovered for a moment, then faltered as she realized what he meant.

"Oh… Sai… I didn't know—"

"Of course you did, ugly." Sai sat down mechanically. "How do you do it? Why did you do it?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and sat down. "Do what?"

He was quiet for a moment. He reached into his hip pouch and withdrew a book. The one he always carried. "You formed many bonds. Even with the ones who hurt you and left you. And kept those bonds. How?" She stared at him and then at her own hands, turning the kunai over and over. "I… I don't know. It is better than being alone. I was so lonely when I was young that when people came along… the thought of being alone again was unbearable, I think."

Sai pursed his lips. It was as though he was trying the expression on and wasn't sure if he meant it. "Do we… do we have that bond?"

Her eyes were so green as they peered into his. Confusion. "Would you come after me if I left?" When her eyes widened into the shape of fear, he quickly clarified, "I am not leaving. But if I did. Would you come?"

"I'd have to. You're my teammate, Sai."

Not the answer he wanted. "Am I your friend?"

"O-of course! Idiot." She slapped the back of his head in mock annoyance. "Is this what this is all about? You still don't trust that I am your friend?"

Sai looked at the covered of the book. The two boys holding hands. "I think I do now. I also think that I don't understand what it means. Ino-chan said I must form bonds on purpose. How do I do that? She said I must choose to make them."

"You already have some. Maybe you ought to recognize who you have bonds with first? It seems like you haven't given it too much thought."

His pale lips twisted in a soft smile and he closed his eyes. "I have. I just… thought wrongly. It didn't occur to me that you felt the same way."

She stared at his expression, realizing it wasn't a fake smile for once.

"Later, ugly!" Then he was gone.

Author's Note: I guess that's all for now. Review, please. Open to suggestions.