Chapter 6

He wondered if all love lives were as tragic as Haruno Sakura's appeared to be.

Left behind by Uchiha Sasuke. Essentially dropped without a second thought (without any warning too, considering their last encounter he'd stumbled upon) to marry the daimyo's relative by Sabaku no Gaara. Was that the norm when it came to the appraised love, or just that his teammate was severely unlucky?

It must have been her inheriting some of the Legendary Sucker's curse, because in the books he'd read, the characters weren't ever so unfortunate, no matter what life threw in their direction. They went through their own fair shares of trouble, but it was usually tied to the same person and they were given a happy ending. With the way her life was going, Sai was certain Sakura would grow to become an old spinster (apparently that was just as tragic as her luck in romance, for it was always spoken about with great trepidation, like merely thinking about it would evoke it on the person).

"Yeah, I guess I am," Naruto said thoughtfully and nodded, arms coming around his middle. Ah, that was his 'being wise' pose, when he truly believed he was clever. Sai had quickly learned that that was a lie and more often than not, Uzumaki Naruto didn't have the slightest clue what he was talking about. "Although he's always looked up to me and wanted to know more about me. Never the other way around, so I don't really know that much about him."

He was lying to boost how others viewed him again, Sai concluded. Was it normal for people to do that? Several of Team Seven's friends did the same thing.

"R-Really?" questioned their client, Fumiko. He was certain he was the only one to learn her name, as he'd yet to hear the others address her directly. "Well, what do you know?"

There was a hum, followed by Naruto doing what could quite possibly be viewed as the worst thing he could do in Sakura's situation.

He compared the recent heartbreak to her old heartbreak.

Even Sai knew that was a heartless thing to do.

"He's kinda like Sasuke, in a way," he said after a few moments, rubbing his chin in a way that reminded Sai of Tenzo – or Yamato, for the duration of his being their captain. "They're both loners and have problems–"

"Problems?" their client squeaked, eyes wide and fearful.

The rumours that accompanied Sabaku no Gaara's name was enough to make anybody frightened, Sai supposed, never mind a woman who was being forced to marry him and share his bed. He was a man who'd slaughtered hundreds to his fulfil his own psychopathic urges, hellbent on destroying anyone who so much as looked at him the wrong way. One rumour in particular that stood out to Sai amongst the rest was the one of Gaara murdering his own relatives in coldblooded anger and refusing to wash the blood from his body for days. However, as Sai wasn't one who easily believed another's words, he merely took note of the rumour. He didn't believe any of them until there was proof to back them.

He wondered if Sakura ever thought about the rumours.

Glancing in her direction, he found her head bowed, features downcast and fixated on the dirt road. In that moment, she was the personification of depression as she trudged alongside them, pace slowing to the point where Kakashi altered theirs, eventually bringing them all to a halt.

For once, he was surprised he wasn't bothered by it – usually, to him, a mission was always top priority and her heartbreak was putting it at risk of failure. But in that moment, he…

"Would you like a moment, Sakura?"

The calm, somewhat softened tone of Hatake Kakashi was one Sai had very rarely, if ever heard, but he barely paid it any mind when Sakura nodded quickly because in response to his question, her jerky nod and sudden turning to disappear into the trees left behind a single tear that struck him deeply, his gaze immovable on the droplet until it splashed to the ground, the sight of it becoming engraved in his mind.

"What's wrong?" questioned Fumiko. "Did something happen?"

"I'll go after her–" Naruto began, but Sai was moving before he could, catching his arm just as the blond started to walk away.

It was strange, he…

"Allow me," he requested, ignoring the surprised looks that followed him as he left without another word, following the careless trail Sakura left behind and covering it simultaneously.

The sound of her sniffling caused Sai to pause several feet away from her collapsed form. The sight of her pitifulness left him unsure of how to continue with his original plan, for he'd yet to see such a hugely vulnerable side of Sakura. Yes, he'd seen her anxious and upset and downright furious, but everything about her screamed that what Sakura was experiencing in that moment was of a higher – no, a deeper level. It was enough to bring forth a sensation within him.

It was odd – the sensation, he meant. While he'd read plenty of books regarding heartbreak and grief, he'd never believed himself to be affected by it in the slightest (not even by his brother's death). Not personally and not by another's pain. Yet, there he stood watching her cry into her knees helplessly, with a strange sensation in his chest of wanting to rid Sakura of the pain she was trapped beneath.

Silently – so silently that he startled her, he realised belatedly – Sai knelt before her, taking a cue from one of his books as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"There, there. I'm here."

But apparently, he got it all wrong. For a couple of seconds, the tears had frozen, those shockingly green eyes that he needed to find the right shade of paint for glued to his, wide and surprised until she erupted with laughter.

"Oh, Sai," she gasped for breath. "No, no. That's what you say to a child – and in less of a monotone, too."

It was? Sitting back on his haunches, he watched Sakura for a while, that weird sensation fading at her mirth. "I was under the impression it was okay to use on others."

She was still giggling and wiping away the remnants of her tears as she said, "It really depends on the dynamics, I guess. But generally, that's what you'd say to a distressed infant."

Ah.

It was more difficult than he'd assumed it to be – understanding emotions, that was. Why was it not okay to use such a comfort on an adult? Was it patronising, he wondered? It must have been (as he recalled many adults bristling when they believed themselves to be spoken to like a child), though not to Sakura. His misunderstanding of social interactions seemed to have brightened her mood. While it was at his own expense, he supposed it was a good thing that she was no longer crying.

"Sorry," she eventually managed to murmur to him, her voice soft and delicate.

It reminded him of the pain she'd been displaying only moments before and in a bid to keep that odd sensation at bay, Sai turned and leaned back against the trunk with her. He wondered if he got the spacing right, as he was aware of the fact that too close suggested a more intimate setting, whereas too far was debatably unapproachable. It didn't matter what he thought. Either way, it unaffected him. Perhaps people were too caught up on social interactions and the norms?

"You didn't know," he surmised, looking to her from the corner of his eye. "About Kazekage-sama."

The words brought forth those dimples in her chin as she bit down on her lip, causing colour to surge to life on the delicate flesh when she finally freed it. That was a good shade of red, Sai noted for later.

"Of course I didn't." She didn't snap the words like he'd expected. Unlike when others bristled at the mere suspicion of their intelligence being questioned, Sakura remained meek and upset, closing in on herself further. "Gaara showed no signs of ending what we have."

Though that didn't necessarily mean he would end things, he supposed. Many people – both of a higher status and regular folk – had affairs every day. Some never thought twice about the hearts and trust they were trampling on.

Had Sai been one to listen to rumours, he would have believed Sabaku no Gaara to fall under that category. His previous, cold-hearted nature made him the perfect candidate for a cheating, uncaring spouse. A man who could easily crush the life out of another person while grinning and relishing in the torment wouldn't hesitate to take what he wanted in terms of those kinds of desires.

"What makes you think he would end it?"

The question seemed to catch her off guard, Sakura's eyes growing impossibly wide while trying to meet his. Having read in a book that eye contact during meaningful conversations was essential, he kept their gazes connected, wondering if he exuded the correct aura that would allow Sakura to confide in him.

He knew Sakura. He knew she was not an idiot like their third teammate, Naruto. When out on missions, he knew he could rely on her to see through traps or blatant lies, although she did continue to struggle somewhat with more personal deceits. Was that how he was supposed to take her hurting in that moment? That she was unable to see through the lies because of it being personal to her?

Haruno Sakura was impulsive and susceptible to deceit, in a way, due to her emotional, trusting nature. Had he himself confessed undying love to her, no matter how fake it would obviously be, she would more than likely fall for it. Not necessarily in terms of reciprocating his affections, but more like internalise a great struggle within herself on how to gently let the person down, as he'd seen her do so in the past. The only person she was neither gentle with nor honest with, was Naruto, in his eyes. For some reason, she allowed his blatant feelings to fester, all the while knowing she would never return them.

"Y-You don't think he would?"

She was asking for his view on the matter? That was certainly new. Up until that point she'd been standoffish on the matter, though considering it was the Kazekage she was involved with, that wasn't all that surprising. There were many connotations tied to that relationship due to their differing villages. Was she even aware of them and how dangerous things could become for her, should she step out of line in ROOT's eyes?

"I don't believe it matters what I think, as I don't know Kazekage-sama," he answered after a moment of contemplative silence. "I could tell you many different scenarios and allow you to choose which fits best, if you wish?"

The dampening of her mood returned, leaving Sakura to return to resting her chin on her lap, eyes downcast. "I already know they're going to revolve around affairs or being labelled as a concubine or–"

"Not necessarily." The thought of such labels being applied to Sakura seemed odd, like it caused a twisting in his gut. Was that an emotion, he wondered? Or simply a reaction? "You know Kazekage-sama better than the rest of us. What do you think is happening?"

"I want to say it's all just a big misunderstanding," she mumbled into her knees. The grip she had on herself tightened considerably and he eyed the redness of her skin, wondering if he was supposed to stop her from injuring herself. Or didn't it hurt when in that frame of mind? "That Gaara's gotten overruled by the councilmen and has no choice, but still that… He still could've told me."

Yes, there was still that. No matter what was happening behind the scenes, had Gaara truly cared for Sakura, he would have told her about his responsibilities as Kazekage. Granted, there were some facets she couldn't know about for the safety of his village, but seeing the pain Sakura was in was–

Oh?

Sai glanced downwards at his body, the sudden override of some form causing his mind to blank. What did that mean? Had he been straying too close to a piece of information Danzo didn't want him to have or share? Or was it his mind's natural response to shutting down any form of emotion, even if it was just the slightest of inclination towards feeling something? The latter was more likely, he supposed.

"We're supposed to be friends above all else," continued Sakura, unsuspecting to his inner-turmoil. "The fact that he felt as though he couldn't confide in me hurts the most."

"More than him marrying the woman you're so jealous of?"

Ah. That was definitely the wrong thing to ask, he concluded as a fist thumped the back of his head, accompanied by an angered growl.

"I am not jealous!"

"I caught you staring at Fumiko-sama's figure many times in the past hour alone – her breasts, especially," he informed her, not missing the brief recollection as she realised Fumiko was the client's name, confirming his earlier suspicions. "Are you interested in women?"

That was certainly a new record for the shade of red her face had gone – not even Naruto had caused her to blush so hard, he believed. Although, he couldn't really say for sure due to never seeing her face when alone and intimate with Gaara–

"I'm not a lesbian!"

"You are always looking at Ino-san's breasts too, now that I think about it."

"I am not!"

Focusing on the redness of her cheeks, he leaned closer to her, taking note of the widening of her eyes, back thumping against the trunk of the tree harshly in her pitiful attempt to move away from him.

When there was only a few inches of space between them for the purpose of squeezing the truth from her (for she wasn't the best liar and Naruto often declared she couldn't lie to their faces), he asked, "Do you like breasts, Sakura?"

"What the hell have I walked into?"

Naruto's intrusion didn't break his spell as he remained focused on Sakura's raging features. In fact, he didn't move away until he was certain her bad mood was no more – and it wasn't, it appeared.

"S-Sai's being a pervert," she suddenly snapped at Naruto and shot to her feet, hands covering her cheeks.

A pervert? That was a bad label to have, Sai quickly reminded himself and stood up also, smiling placatingly at his teammates even as Naruto dragged Sakura behind his body, shielding her from him.

"You have misunderstood–"

"Don't you come any closer to my Sakura-chan, you pervert!"

"But Sakura was the one ogling Fumiko-sama–"

"I was not!"

Slowly, Naruto looked over his shoulder at her. "S-Sakura-chan… Y-You…?"

"N-No!"

They were both still rather flustered when they managed to make their way through Suna's entrance, where the Kazekage's siblings were awaiting their arrival (the whole way, he noticed Sakura refusing to look anywhere near the client, her cheeks growing redder whenever Naruto looked between the two women suspiciously).

Sai got the feeling that the female – Temari, he was reminded when Naruto greeted them cheerfully – disliked their client due to the way her gaze narrowed on her, the coldness in her features, accompanied by the tsk under her breath before spinning on her heel and stalking away, leaving Fumiko cowering into Sakura's rigid shoulder.

He had to commend Sakura, however. Her fake smile really was masterful, for the client had no idea she was being deceived, instead believing all was well with her.

It appeared Kakashi wasn't fooled as easily, though (a quieter part of Sai wondered if he was supposed to throw off his scent somehow, to keep the affair from being discovered). One look at the smile had his lone eye narrowing fractionally. Was that simply because of who he was and his skill set, or because he knew Sakura on a deeper level? Sai made a mental note to ask the Copy-Nin for advice at a later date, should he need to, because his gut instinct was telling him that it was the latter.

The smile went up a notch as they reached the Kazekage's office – not in terms of brightness, but believability. Even Sai had to do a double take to ensure she wasn't actually feeling happy about seeing the man who'd potentially ditched her for a younger, curvier woman.

But it wasn't real. No, the minute shake in her hands before she calmed herself told him of her rampaging emotions.

The meeting would be painful for her, it seemed. Was there anything he was supposed to do?

"Oi, Gaara," Naruto's angered voice boomed down the high ceiling halls, his presence challenging as ever as he stalked into the office with the rest of them trailing behind, ignoring Kankuro's demands to show more respect. He was waved off dismissively by the redhaired Kazekage, whose eyes found Sakura before anyone else's, Sai noticed instantly. "You've got some explaining to do!"