Ino was glad for the company. It was just her and her dad at the house, which usually meant only her. Her father spent much of his time on missions to different countries because of the family technique. I placed my bag in their guest bedroom and went down the stairs to the living room, where Ino sat in deep thought.

I sat on the opposite side of the couch and watched the various emotions on her face as they came and went. She wanted to do something, but she was afraid of what it would mean. She snuck a glance at me and I raised my eyebrow. She quickly diverted her eyes, scrunching her eyebrows. That couldn't be good.

"Chishio…" She finally spoke.

"Yes?"

"I invited some people over before I knew you were going to be staying here while your parents are away. I hope you don't mind."

"Oh, it's fine. It's my fault for not telling you sooner." Her form instantly relaxed, which I took as another bad sign.

"Good. Well, I better go get ready!" With that she bounced up off of the couch and climbed the stairs in twos. Just who was coming over?

Thirty minutes later, I found out. The door bell rang and Ino ran to get it. I stayed in my position on the couch as she ushered two different voices in. Two voices that I knew well and made my stomach drop. She led in a blond that I usually tried to avoid, and a black-haired guy that I always tried to avoid.

Ino sat on the loveseat across from me, cuddling close to Sai, who sat opposite me. Naruto awkwardly sat on the other side of the couch I was on. I had just made this whole ordeal awkward. I couldn't leave now without Ino getting suspicious.

"Hello Naruto, hello Sai." Naruto let out a small hello while Sai just stared intensely at me.

"Oh Sai, I have something to show you!" Ino pulled a reluctant Sai out of the room, leaving Naruto and me in silence.

There was a reason that Naruto and I would only hangout with large groups of friends. There was a reason we would only say hi in passing and only use small talk. It's because we both knew. We both knew what happened that night and neither of us really wanted to open old wounds.

"So your parents are away? Are they away on business?" Small talk. I could handle that.

"No, I don't think so. It's more of a vacation of sorts. How did you…?"

"Ino told us when she invited us over."

"Of course she did."

"Sai wouldn't come over until he heard that." My eyes darted up to Naruto's. He was much more intelligent than he usually let on. Was he trying to warn me about something?

"Look, Chishio. That night…"

"Don't even talk about that night!" I stood up. Naruto followed suit.

"I know Sasuke hurt you. I know your sister hurt you. I just don't want you to get too close to Sai, I don't know what to think of him yet."

"I know. I've deliberately cut everything between us." Naruto didn't need to speak his next words for me to understand them. Apparently not.

"He's a part of root."

"Root?"

"It's a subdivision of ANBU." My eyes hardened at that. "But it's different. It's lead by a guy named Danzo. It's really secretive and he has some technique that makes his subordinates emotionless."

I looked over at Sai and Ino in the kitchen. Ino was showing him that she had bought chocolate cake just for him. So Sai wasn't the way he was by choice? Or did he know the conditions when he joined?

"Why are you telling me this?" I don't want you getting hurt again, is what his eyes said.

"I need you to keep an eye on him. Ino has this crazy new infatuation with him. He'll probably be spending a lot of time with her now that you're around."

"Alright, I'll do it. I'll spy on him for you."

Spending time with Ino and Sai was a lot harder than it sounded. I wasn't the jealous type, but something about the two of them together made me upset. I didn't have my best friend and I didn't have…whatever Sai used to be to me. I spent many hours reading on the couch as Ino would tote Sai around the house, or the town.

He never looked that happy—even for Sai. It made me unhappy. The fact that such a thing as Sai's unhappiness made me unhappy, made my mood even worse. "Chishio?"

"Hai?" Ino's big blue eyes peered into my almond shaped red ones. It was unnerving when knowing about her clans technique. It made me wonder if she ever used it on me, if I would have any defense against it. I was good at control, but there was no controlling my mind, only my actions. How could someone shield their thoughts from anything but the outside?

"You're daydreaming again." She backed away to give me some personal space. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding. Looking behind her, I found Sai. He stood with his perfect posture and normal expression. I searched his eyes for something, some kind of emotion. Was this your choice? I didn't know why it meant so much to me, but it did. But if he was made—or chose—to be emotionless, then how come I was able to see some? How had some seeped through?

"Does she do this often?" Came from his lips.

"Not usually this bad. She must be thinking about her." Or was everything that happened between us a lie? Was he really no different from Sasuke?

"Who is 'her'?" But that was different too, wasn't it? Sasuke wasn't emotionless. He tried to be, he showed himself as such. So many times, though, he was angry. So many times he was spiteful and mean. Sometimes he was even kind. No, Sasuke wasn't emotionless. He was blocking other people out.

"I really shouldn't talk about it. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it, though." Sai's eyes met mine again. Don't let it show. As I searched Sai's obsidian eyes, I wondered if he could see anything in mine. Were mine not as emotionless as I tried to make them? Were they not as refined, not as lost as they should look?

Next thing I knew Ino left the house and Sai was sitting beside me on the couch. I blinked as the door closed, leaving us alone. "I read in a book that people feel more comfortable when you position yourself so you're about the same height."

"Why are you telling me this?" Had he forgotten that deal we made? Had he forgotten what we promised we would forget?

"Your eyes…used to smile when you arrived at my apartment. People smile around the people they like, I read that too. So why do you look so sad now?"

"I'm not sad." My immediate response

"But you're not happy."

"I…lost a friend in the past. I still think about it sometimes." His hand reached out for mine. It stopped right before it brushed mine, suspended in the air.

"You had a close bond, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Bonds don't change…that's something I learned from Naruto." I wanted to think that so badly. It was so tempting to think that Lidia and I were still inseparable, that we still had each others backs. "But I also learned that people change and situations change."

"A lot has changed between her and I." My hand ached to reach out to his. It still hung there. It was as if he was making physical contact an option. It was my choice for the taking—literally.

"Will you be my friend, Manami?" He was suddenly smiling. I melted. My hand found a way to his. Friends—I could do that. Ino was my friend, Shikamaru was my friend…I had tons of friends. I could handle being friends with Sai. His hand was warm against mine. Not clammy, just warm—a sense of security. I'll admit—I smiled a little. Or maybe a lot.

"I'd like that, Sai." I giggled as I pulled him into a solely friend hug. He put his chin on my head, pulling me closer into his chest. His arms felt like a shield. From what? I wasn't sure. My sister? My emotional problems? The world? Who knows—it felt warm, comfortable, and extremely safe.

"Does this sum up everything I've ever felt for you?" He spoke so quietly that his voice sounded husky. Chills ran up my spine. He was using my own words against me—but that wasn't what I noticed. I noticed the word 'felt.' That meant that he had to feel something for me. That meant that he had emotion.

"What have you felt for me, Sai?" I liked the way his name sounded, how it formed in my mouth, and danced off of my lips.

"I don't know yet," he spoke, just as quiet. "I'll tell you when I find the right definition for it." I laughed—the sound felt foreign in my chest.

"I feel happy," I said honestly.

"You're smiling." I looked up to see him staring at me, not a full-out grin like the one I was used to, but a calmer, peaceful grin. It was one I had never experienced before.

"I made a new friend today. Sai and Manami—friends. That has a nice ring to it." He was quiet for a good few seconds.

"How do two names have a ring?" His smile was gone and his eyes were looking at the wall behind me. "Is it a physical ring? Or is it a double meaning?"

"You're ruining the moment."

"A double meaning then," he spoke as he pulled me close again. The fact that Sai felt something for me—I didn't care what it was—meant that he was human. It didn't matter whether he had become emotionless by choice or by fate, because now—when it really mattered—he wasn't. In these little priceless moments that we kept sharing, he felt and showed emotion. He shared something with me that he shared with few others. Something that he wasn't used to showing. How could I deny him the same in return?

We pulled apart from our friend-hug when the front door opened and slammed against the wall. By the time we pulled apart, two figures stood in front of us—a disheveled Ino and an annoyed sensei. I averted my eyes to the floor at the sight of my sensei. I had been slacking off lately and I had no one to blame but myself. No wonder she looked pissed.

"Chishio, you're okay!" Ino said with a sigh of relief. I scratched the back of my head, awkwardly.

"Sorry about that. I was thinking about the first day we met…do you remember that?" Ino's eyes sparkled and a smile formed on her lips. She liked reminiscing. She saw memories as evidence for things in the present. The fact that we decided to be best friends back then, means that we were obviously meant to stay best friends.

"Of course!" If only she had not befriended me because of my last name. If only I knew for sure if that was a fake smile she had when I accepted her offer. Maybe the cause of our friendship filled with lies and fake smiles, was the fake smile that started it all. Maybe because the foundation was weak, the rest would crumble.

"It was recess and you came right up to me and yelled at me." For staring at Sasuke, which I was doing. I was openly gawking at him, much like the pink-haired girl that I used to despise. I was quick to judge someone so similar to myself at the time.

"I thought you were staring at Sasuke." He had looked so lonely sitting over by himself. There I was the most popular girl in the school, and I was unhappy. Maybe that's how he felt too. Maybe that's why I felt so drawn to him.

"But I was really staring at Shikamaru." I hated lying. It felt so wrong to lie to someone as close to me as Ino. Our friendship started with a lie, though, so it makes sense that it would be riddled with them.

"You liked him for the longest time!" I wished so badly that I could have liked him. So many things in my life would be different. I looked over to Sai. Why did I always have to be drawn to complicated individuals?

"And then out of nowhere you said, 'let's be best friends.'"

"I've got good instincts I guess." Ino was appeased, reliving a portion of our shared childhood. The fuming redhead next to her was not.

"Chishio! One of these days your mind-wandering is going to kill you!"

"Hai! I'm sorry, Misa-sensei."

"You've been completely neglecting your training! Your teammates count on you to be able to take a third of the load, and with all this training you've missed there's no way you'll be able to."

"She's been training with me, Misa-sensei." The lie flowed freely from Sai's lips. Misa-sensei focused her attention on the boy beside me.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Sai. The newest member of team—"

"Team seven, isn't it? I've heard of you." Her anger dissipated just a tad. She looked around the room one last time. "Well Ino, I expect to see improvement when we spar at the conclusion of the week." With that, Misa-sensei left as quickly as she had come. I turned the person next to me. Ino beat me to yelling.

"You two have been training?" I could clearly see a vein on her forehead.

"No!—"

"Yes."

I looked over at my new friend. Why was he continuing with the lie, even now? Since when didn't Sai tell the blatant truth no matter what?

"Why did you lie? Now I have to actually train!" I whined.

"I was being nice. Don't you tell lies to protect people?" With those few words, the anger left my eyes and face. Sai didn't understand interacting with people. Although it looked like I was teaching him some decent lessons, it also looked like I was teaching him some bad ones. I had to work on that.

"Alright Sai, Ino, here's what's going to happen." Always in control, see? "Ino—I'm going to work on the deal we made. Sai—I'm going to teach you everything you'll ever need to know about life. Capiche?"

Ha! Easier said than done!