Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto Shippuuden.

If Sakura hadn't known any better, she would not have thought Sasuke to be visually impaired as they raced through the trees, branches and leaves a blur of shadows around them.

Sasuke's grip on her wrist was firm, like gripping the hilt of a sword. She winced painfully as her ankle weights snagged at protruding rocks at branches, but Sasuke kept on dragging her deeper into the forest, further and further away from the Hidden Village of the Leaves.

She dared look over her shoulder, peering into the darkness. She wondered how long he was going to keep on yanking her like this. Ten minutes have passed since they stepped through the boundary. Kakashi wasn't kidding when he said he would be timing them.

Digging her heels onto the ground, she skidded to a stop and pulled her arm free from the Uchiha's grip.

Sasuke staggered a few feet ahead of her before looking over his shoulder in confusion. "What now?" he asked impatiently.

Sakura frowned at his silhouette – it was the only thing she could see in the darkness. "It's time I stage my escape. You have twenty more minutes."

And she turned around as if to leave. She discovered her hands were shaking. She had grilled herself every day for the past five years that it had been she who had let Sasuke walk away from the village. Who would have thought that she would be back on that same setting, only this time feeling exhilarated that at last, it was all going to be over.

"Wait," Sasuke called out to her hesitantly, his voice slightly rising.

Sakura turned to have him. In the poor lighting, she could make out his hand reaching out to her. "You're running out of time, Sasuke. Are you so confident that you think you can get away from us if we go after you again?"

She could see he had lowered his hand. "I can manage."

Arrogant bastard. "If the Hokage sends out Team Eight and Sai on your tail, you'd be sniffed out in a matter of seconds."

He knew this fact. He was silent for a few moments. She wondered what he was thinking. It didn't matter. She decided not to care.

"Come with me." He seemed to take a tentative step forward. "You had wanted to come with me then. I'm offering it to you now."

Sakura found herself taking a step back. Didn't Sasuke realize that she was no longer the sniveling love-struck girl he used to know? She shook her head. "As… tempting… as the invitation to a life of a rogue ninja is, I'm afraid I have to decline. There isn't anything that you could offer me that could make me go."

"I'll… take care of you," he said silently.

"Stop it, Sasuke. You know me better than to fall for that trap when all you ever want is a healer who can be there on your every beck and call." She looked away. "And I can't leave my team behind. I'm not like you."

"Hn," was all he said. And after that, "It's Naruto, isn't it? You'd choose him over me."

Sakura had to close her eyes and take deep breaths from the sudden anger that began to rise in her. "Leave Naruto out of this. You –" she hissed. Why did Sasuke have to pick on Naruto all the time? "– you don't even know Naruto. You were too busy plotting your little revenge to witness how he's grown."

"The idiot did not grow. He's still the same as before I left: recklessly heroic and righteously misguided."

Sakura narrowed her eyes at his hardly seen figure. "You have fifteen minutes," she muttered between gritted teeth. She slipped a kunai from its holster. "Now let's make my escape as believable as possible, shall we?"

She was all talk. She knew she didn't stand a chance against him if he ever fought fairly.

And her thoughts were justified when she felt his breath on the back of her neck in a blink of an eye.

She hated it when he did that.

"You've changed," he whispered in her ear.

"I just grew up."

"You're cold."

"You're colder."

She felt his forehead rest on the back of her head. "Come with me," he said.

Sakura shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably. "You're late, Sasuke. You're just – too late…"

There was a silence before he spoke again. "Sakura…"

And she felt a slight pressure at the base of her neck.

And her knees buckled beneath her.

Sasuke caught her before she fell, and before her eyes surrendered to the sudden sleepy sensation that threatened to take over her entire body, she saw a sliver of his face in the darkness. Those dark eyes looked down at her as he gently laid her down on the slightly moist ground before saying his final words:

"Thank you…"

Sakura tried to remain conscious. And before darkness finally beat her into submission, she saw Sasuke raise his head when a sound from somewhere above them caught his attention.

But Sakura didn't know what happened after that. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and everything disappeared around her.

Sai couldn't sleep. He lay in his sheets, staring at the ceiling almost unblinkingly. Finally giving up, he got out of bed and went to get a glass of water from his very bare kitchen, giving the Rue sapling sitting on his window a longing glance.

And what was when he saw her.

It was an hour past midnight when Ino Yamanaka ran below his window to the direction of the hospital. She was wearing a robe, baby blue pajama bottoms peeking from under it. Her feet were clad in… rabbit slippers?

Curiosity getting the best of him, he leaned out the window just in time to see Neji leaping from roof to roof towards the Hokage tower, as if in a hurry.

Frowning, he grabbed several scrolls and brushes, carelessly stuffing them in his backpack and fished his tanto from the rack by his bed. Looking down at himself dressed in an over-worn black shirt and ankle-long grey trousers, he decided that this was not the time to change clothes. Strapping his pack on and slipping his sheathed blade at the waistband of his pants, he leaped out the window into the sleeping village.

Much to his surprise and displeasure, he bumped into Kakashi on one of the roofs. He looked like he was hurrying from the gates of the village towards the Hokage tower.

"Good evening… morning…?" Sai greeted, suspicion overtaking him at the sight of his senpai at such an hour.

Kakashi examined him with that one black eye of his, then he smiled an unseen smile that was only evident when his eyes playfully creased. "Nice night out, yes?"

Sai leered at him. "You came from the gates."

"Why, yes I did."

"You live in the other side of the village," Sai pointed out.

"Indeed."

Sai's curiosity continued to build. "I saw Ino in bunny slippers running towards the hospital."

"Bunny slippers, you say?"

Kakashi seemed to have missed the important part of what he just said. Sai tried again. "Neji was also rushing to the Hokage tower."

Kakashi stared at him, then in a split second, the Jounin had his arm around Sai's neck in a friendly – but still stifling – chokehold. "You're too observant for your own good, Sai."

Sai doubted it was a compliment. "What are you up to?" He seemed to have taken to questioning Kakashi's motives lately. He had started doing so ever since the Uchiha returned to the village.

Kakashi pulled him closer. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret, only if you hear me out to the very end, that is. Got it?"

Sai frowned even more.

Kakashi released him and they squatted on their haunches on that random rooftop, face to face. "Sasuke has escaped."

"…"

"…"

"What..!"

"Shhh! Hear me out first!"

Sai was on his feet. "We can't be sitting here while a rouge nin – " Kakashi pulled him back down.

"Neji is on his way to get orders from the Hokage as we speak. He was informed by Hinata when she couldn't find Naruto at his place and went looking for him. She found him injured a few hundred meters from the village gates. Hinata had called Kiba and Chouji for help and the two had taken Naruto to the hospital."

Sai's frown deepened. "I can hardly believe that… Naruto losing to Sasuke."

"Well, you see, that's the problem. Sasuke had taken Sakura hostage and – OI! Where are you going? "

Sai had pounced from the rooftop down into the alley, breaking into a run towards the gates. Kakashi bound after him.

"Sai! I told you to hear me out…!"

Sai felt – something – in the pit of his stomach. Anger, worry and panic all wound up in a tight ball in the middle of him. He looked over his shoulder at Kakashi who was desperately trying to keep up with him. For some weird reason, Sai's face broke into a cheerful smile. "If he touches even one hair on her head, I'll kill him."

"Listen to me!"

"There's no time."

"You don't even know where they are!"

"Give me two minutes." A flurry of scrolls and with a brandish of a brush, a huge Falcon came to life before Sai. He was on the beast in one fluid motion, leaving Kakashi staring after him helplessly.

The moment he was alone, thoughts paraded through Sai's mind. Something wasn't right with tonight, and now that he thought about it, he wished he had stayed to at least listen to what Kakashi had to say.

Conjuring up more mice and dropping them into the trees below him, he hovered over the village parameter in circles. It was impossible to get a visual of anything in the darkness. Damn Sasuke had to pick a night when there was no moon.

It didn't matter. He just hoped Sakura was all right.

No sooner did the thought pass him did another one hit him like a ton of bricks.

Could it be Sakura actually wanted to go with Sasuke?

The possibility was too painful to even consider, but it was not farfetched. And if it were true, he'd look like an idiot running after them, waving his tanto around in the name of misplaced chivalry.

He shoved the jealous feelings aside. He had no use for it. Right now, he needed to stop Sasuke from leaving the village, and he needed to retrieve a fellow Leaf nin along with him. It was a mission. Emotions didn't apply. They didn't have to.

But he could not help but grin sadistically at the perfect excuse to kick the crap out of the Uchiha after everything.

After all, the guy stole his girl.

What a joke. Sakura didn't get stolen; she had, in her own free will, waltzed into Sasuke's arms even when he obviously didn't care about her.

Sai's hands tightened into fists. All logic pointed towards the option of forgetting about Sakura Haruno, even after Ino had forcefully made him realize that he was, after all, deeply, madly in love with her. But hearts don't lie, or so books had taught him, and no matter how Sai had tried to forget or deny himself, the bonds that Team Seven had made him were simply too strong.

And in the end, contrary to what people thought, you can teach a dog new tricks, but you can never teach it to unlearn what you taught.

It was too late.

Sakura had taught him to love her.

He couldn't stay away.

At the back of his mind, he felt one of his mice finally discover where Sakura was.

His heart jumped in his chest, making him wince. She was unconscious, but alive. Sasuke was nowhere to be found.

Soaring lower over the sea of trees, Sai headed towards Sakura's whereabouts.

It was past midnight, but Tsunade was not drinking. She had been patiently waiting for Neji Hyuuga to arrive, as planned, and the Jounin came on time, as always.

"Lady Hokage, Sasuke Uchiha has escaped. Hinata came home minutes after she had set off to Naruto's place and discovered Naruto was stabbed with a kunai in the stomach not a few hundred meters from the outskirts of the village. I instantly alerted the members of his batch, and Kiba and Chouji had escorted him to the hospital. Ino is now on her way to tend to him." Neji's brow wrinkled at the effort and beads of sweat matted his forehead.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at him. "Neji."

"Yes?"

"Your acting skills amaze me to no end," she said sarcastically.

Neji's cheek twitched. "I am trying my best."

Tsunade sighed in frustration. She wondered if they were going to get away with this without the elders knowing about it. "You mentioned Naruto being taken to the hospital, but if my memory serves me right, Shikamaru was supposed to have been wounded with him…"

As if on cue, Shikamaru walked in the room with a bloody arm. "You completely forgot about me, didn't you?"

Neji turned to him. "Wasn't Kakashi supposed to be the one to 'discover' you?"

Shikamaru walked over to Tsunade, who was able to mend his arm in a second. "Kakashi didn't come. I waited for him for – "

Kakashi suddenly appeared in the room in a poof of smoke. "Sorry I'm late."

Shikamaru slipped an unlit cigarette between his lips and started another ear excavation while waiting for Kakashi's excuse this time.

"Sai found out," the copy ninja said calmly as he planted himself on the far wall.

Tsunade's eyebrows kept climbing up her forehead. "He… did? And?"

"Flew off on his ink summons the moment he heard Sasuke took Sakura hostage."

Shikamaru suddenly paused and pinned him a glare. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you did it on purpose."

Kakashi instantly procured his dirty book from his back pocket and hid behind it. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Tsunade's fingers began their desk-drumming. Kakashi always did love to complicate things. But she respected his judgment, however unorthodox it may sometimes be.

Neji was not impressed. "Sai isn't in the plan…"

Kakashi turned a page. "I know."

"He could try to bring Sasuke back."

"Mhm."

Tsunade intertwined her fingers together and rested her chin on it thoughtfully.

The moment Tsunade had learned of the elders' motives regarding the Uchiha, she had instantly informed Kakashi. Her forefathers had worked hard to build the Leaf out of nothing. They will not destroy its beliefs by resorting to medieval methods in procuring the Sharingan. It would be better to have the Uchiha gone than have the youth of the village be used and abused in such a disgusting manner as to breed for the sake of blood. The Way of the Leaf does not treat their youth like animals.

Tsunade would not have it.

Scowling, she turned to Kakashi who remained oblivious of her glares. She did not know what he had in mind, but if Sai did happen to bring Sasuke back...

"Sasuke is – was – my student. He won't get caught," Kakashi said dully, once again turning a page of his lewd book. Tsunade doubted he was reading at all.

"Sai can track a snake in a hundred acre rice field," Neji pointed out. "If he catches Sasuke, our efforts would amount to nothing."

Kakashi finally gave up on his book, closing it with a snap. "Sakura can handle him."

Shikamaru looked quite skeptical. "Those two have been treating each other like viruses for over a month now…"

Kakashi gave him an unseen grin. "That, I dare say, is Team Seven's problem, Shika-bear. Whether Sakura and Sai are getting along well or not, is none of your concern."

Shikamaru's face started to grow red. "You set them up, didn't you?"

"Team Seven's problem," Kakashi repeated, reopening his book and brushing Shikamaru away, as if to say the conversation was over.

Tsunade watched as Neji, who was not very tolerant with such things, opened the door and stepped out of her office. She smiled behind one hand and pulled out a piece of paper from under her desk. Now that the jail-break was over, it was time for the hard part; convincing the elders no one was involved in the disappearance of the last surviving Uchiha.

The darkness was what caught Sai off guard the moment he had plunged through the tree tops. Dismissing his ink summons, he reached over his shoulder for a flare and was mildly pleased to discover he was careful enough to bring one. Pulling off the tab and bathing his surroundings in a dull green glow, he instantly searched for Sakura.

It did not take long for him to find her. She was on the ground, her back propped against the trunk of a tree. He could not see her face with her light pink hair spilling down over it, her chin resting on her chest.

Without thinking, Sai ran towards her, touching his two forefingers to her neck to check for a pulse.

That small contact of the tip of his fingers with her slightly warm neck made his heart race altogether.

He did not know how to describe the feeling that overcame him at that very moment, knowing that she was unharmed.

It felt like– the relief – he had felt when Sakura's head had surfaced the water when she was washed away in the river. And it was like– the panic – he had felt when he woke up seeing Sakura lying naked in his arms in the underground river cave. And at the same time if felt like – the nervousness – he had felt when Sakura first introduced him to her parents. And like the – exhilaration – he felt when they first kissed. And the pure, unexplainable joy when they first made love.

For over a month, he had stayed away, and she had stayed away. And he thought that everything was all right with that. He had decided that even if Sakura did love someone else, that was not going to stop him from loving her from afar. Ino had insisted he approach her, confess to her his feelings. But he did not know how to put his feelings into words. He had been afraid he would say something wrong and make things even worse. In the end, he settled with eyeing her when she was not looking.

There were times when he sensed her looking at him on occasion when he would leave the village, and not just once had he seen her sporting the ankle weights he had given her. This, too, had left him in anagrams.

And right then, as he kneeled by her unconscious form, flare in one hand and his other hand paused a few inches from her face, he discovered he had no idea what to do next.

He looked over his shoulder, waving the flare around to at least uncover whatever tracks the Uchiha may have left. As expected of a man who could hardly see, he had clumsily left broken twigs and footprints everywhere. He had half a mind to run after him, but worry over Sakura's welfare made him stay.

And once again, he was torn.

In the end, his duty started to outweigh his emotions.

Grabbing Sakura's shoulder roughly, he shook her.

Groaning, Sakura stirred, raised her head, unfocused green eyes met his. In the dull hue of the flare, dark shadows playing across her face, she looked so vulnerable that Sai had to fight the urge to take her into his arms and embrace her till morning. He restrained his emotions, commanding them not to get the better of him.

"Where is he?" he demanded, letting her shoulder go. It stung where their skin made contact. He wanted to keep touching her. She was cold.

Sakura blinked once, twice, as if trying to shake off the sleep from her eyes. She looked at Sai an eternity long before realizing who he was.

Those eyes Sai always thought to be beautiful widened at the sight of him. "Sai…?"

In the span of a month, this was the first time he actually heard her acknowledge him by name. He could not explain how much it made – really good feelings – sprout from the bottom of his heart. Fighting those feelings down, he placed the flare by her knees and leaned back.

"He couldn't have gotten far. When you gather your senses, go back to the village. Reporting to the Lady Hokage is first priority. I'll go after – "

Sakura's hand shot out, grabbed his wrist tightly. "Don't go!" she blurted out suddenly.

Sai looked down to where she was holding him, traced her arm with his eyes, to her neck, to her face. She was staring at him over the flare. He could not even bring himself to pry her away.

"Sakura, if we don't hurry, you'll lose him forever," he said silently, feeling his chest contract at what he just said. "Let go. I'll get him back for you and –" He was cut off when he felt Sakura suddenly pull her elbow back and slammed her knuckle to his jaw. Nearly losing his balance as he skidded a few feet back, he knocked the flare away, plunging the both of them in unnerving darkness and an uncomfortably pregnant silence.

That was when Sai had absolutely no idea what was going on. He had been punched by Sakura more times than he could actually count, but all of those he understood were out of his insensitivity, and pretty much his social handicap.

But right now, he wondered what he was doing wrong. For the first time in a month, he was genuinely lost about what she wanted him to do.

His head still spinning from Sakura's punch, he could not even react when he felt her grab him by the collar of his shirt, dragging him to his feet.

"You… you… YOU IDIOT!" Sakura suddenly screeched, violently shaking him. "Can we just forget about Sasuke for a moment here and talk?" She lowered her head to his chest, calmly adding, "Please?"

He didn't even think of defending himself from her. Her grip on him loosened, and even in the dark he sensed it. Her shoulders were shaking.

And she began to cry.

Sai's arms hung to his sides, unsure of what to do with them. Not only was the darkness making it impossible to react to what she could possibly be feeling, it was making him highly, highly insecure. He clenched and unclenched his hands. At the back of his mind he could see Sasuke Uchiha riding a huge snake and waving at them as he slithered away to freedom.

It was his mission to bring the rogue ninja back. It was his mission…

There was no past. There was no future. It was just the mission that he had to worry about. But even so…

Sai gently gripped her hands, untangling her fingers from his shirt. "We've talked about this already. What else is there to know?"

Sakura was moving in front of him, as if she was looking for a good enough angle to see him in the darkness. That was impossible, of course. "I had wanted to see you in the hospital then. But the Lady Tsunade didn't allow me…"

"Ah… um…" were the only things Sai could mutter. He wondered if they could talk after he's fished Sasuke back. "Sakura, what else do you want me to hear? We've worked together for two years in one team, and it's not like I'm not aware of your feelings for Sasuke Uchiha. If anything, it was my fault…" he squeezed her fingers gently. "… for asking you… to teach me… It was my fault…"

She let out a strangled sob. "No… "

Sai stifled a groan. He did not even know why Sakura always had to cry in front of him. While he knew that she was usually not this weepy in front of others, he started to think she was doing this to him out of spite.

"I… get jealous…" she said in such a small voice that Sai barely heard her.

He leaned down a bit, pressing his cheek against hers. "What?"

"I get jealous… when you spend time with Ino…"

Sai nearly keeled over. "Eh? Why on earth would you be jealous of that?"

That was when she began to whine. "Because."

"Because what?"

"Just… because… "

"O… kay…?"

She gently pounded on his chest with one fist. "I don't want to play tug-of-war anymore, Sai…"

"With Sasuke, it was like a never-ending tug-of-war with myself, that you would lose either way…"

Of all the places she had to pour her heart out, she had to pick it in a dark, dank forest.

Sai did not know what to say. What did normal people usually say at times like these? He let go of her hands, wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders. "You don't have to, anymore. Why do you keep on hurting yourself with him?"

Sakura took a deep breath, dropped her head on the crook of his neck, trailed her arms around his torso. "Because I'm human… and I made a mistake…"

There was nothing Sai could do for her but hold her until her sobs subsided into little hiccups. By that time, he knew that Sasuke would be long gone, and even if he were to set off now without preparation and the proper gear, he doubted he'd be able to go far.

But what surprised him was that it didn't bother him at all.

Because right now, he knew his mission was not to get back Sasuke Uchiha.

His mission was to hold Sakura Haruno in his arms and make her happy any way he possibly could, even when he knew he didn't have too much to offer.

Sai closed his eyes as he listened to her breathing. "Stop pulling the rope. There's no point anymore."

Sakura sniffed. "I had known, but thought it was nothing."

"What?"

"I could never be weak with Sasuke. It's only with you, Sai, that I can be weak and still be happy about it…"

Sai's breath caught in his throat, and he raised his face, eyes closed, to the unseen sky above them, He hugged her closer. "I miss you."

Sakura nuzzled her face to his neck. "Forgive me. I love you."

Sai's eyes slowly opened, and he wished there was even just a bit of light for him to see her face, because he had missed looking at her. His hands moved on their own accord, searching for her face, and his fingers lightly grazed what could have been her cheeks.

There would be plenty more time to look at her when they get home. And with the thoughts about Sasuke Uchiha completely forgotten, Sai grazed his lips against hers before saying, "I love you, too."

A/N: A month is too long for a lover's quarrel I know. XD But I just love Sai suffering because he's cute that way.

Answers to questions left on my review page:

-If I find the confidence that I could do justice to writing Sai a past, I would.

-The nose thing is a hint that Tsunade is in cahoots with Kakashi about letting Sasuke go.

-No, Sakura isn't going with Sasuke because Sasuke's a dick.

Oh, two more chapters to gooooo!