The next morning, when Daisuke slowly wakes up, he yawns and groans, shifting before blinking as his eyes latch onto the thin, blue vase upon his night stand. Within it rests a single red rose, tilted slightly to one side in the center of the table.

Staring at the rose for a moment, now able to open both of his eyes slightly, he sighs deeply. I already know… that Ino didn't leave that. Does that mean she was here? Does that mean Senka actually let her in…? She wouldn't need to would she…? Flinching again he furrows his brows feeling heavy. She saw me like this… and she really was worried.

Turning thoughtful, Daisuke then tugs alittle at the kunai embedded into the other wall and feels the chains they're attached to give slightly. Heh. Kiyoko's chakra finally left the chains. Now I can pull them out no problem.

"This sucks that we have to break in like this now." A silvery haired male states to his comrades as they stay in trees near Konoha.

"Rin was captured. We're the only hope in getting back Sasuke-kun now." A red haired male responds while a pale kunoichi wearing glasses focuses on the ground below them.

Taking a swig from a water bottle and grinning a toothy grin, the thinner shinobi with pink toned eyes shifts a familiar and monstrous sword on his back. "I'm not worried, once I lay my hands on kubikiri I'll be close to unstoppable." Turning his attention to the female in their team he grunts. "Aren't you done yet?"

"Shut up. Don't be so annoying. I'm trying to get a good lock on my dear Sasuke's chakra."

"You're so boring…" Suigetsu grumbles and folds his arms behind his head and then turns to Jugo to stare at him in disdain.

Paying little attention to the smaller Shinobi, the tremendously tall red haired man reaches up a hand coaxing a small bird to land within his palm. The two communicate for a moment before the animal flies away. I hope we find him soon.

Sitting under a tree, Sai lets out a gentle sigh, closing his eyes with a drawing pad upon his lap. It's almost September… It's so nice and comfortable outside this time of year.. But it's going to start getting very hot soon.

I think he's that guy Shikamaru mentioned as being 'terribly troublesome'. Wonder why? He seems peaceful enough; minding his own business just drawing something. Kiyoko observes from a distance, sitting in a tree with her arms wrapped around her knees. Letting them go, she spreads them both around the branch momentarily before vaulting down and pushing her short, jaw length locks back away from her face before walking forward while trying to take a small peek at his artwork. Folding her hands behind her, she asks. "You're Sai, right?"

Turning his eyes up to her, though he seems unsurprised, the black haired ANBU only nods slightly, offering out a hand politely. "And you're Kiyoko from the Fire Village, right?"

"That's right." She nods before shaking his hand and then crouching down. "So you like art?"

Hesitating a moment, the pallid male then just nods and offers a slightly fake, though still friendly smile. "My brother always encouraged me, so I do it because it keeps my memory of him alive, in some ways… It also keeps my skills high, so that my fighting technique can improve."

"Hmm…" Seeming thoughtful a moment she then surmises. "So your techniques require ninja ink?" She gives a more genuine smile in comparison to his own. "I've looked up information on a large variety of techniques, even though I only have a few of my own. But it gives me an insight." He's so transparent. Is he like this with everyone?

Raising his brows slightly, he offers a slightly more genuine smile before nodding. "I see. Yes… I bring my drawings to life when I fight." Looking down at his drawing pad once more, he takes his pencil to it and begins drawing once more.

Well aside from being fake, he doesn't seem too bad. You can't really expect anyone from ANBU to be completely honest. "Mind if I see what you're drawing now?" She asks curiously.

Shaking his head slightly, he turns the pad around to her more fully, exposing the scenic view before them. An open field with trees surrounding.

Blinking alittle, and raising her brows, Kiyoko then nods. "It's so life-like. More like a window than a paper. It's no wonder your brother encourages you."

"Encouraged." He points out again, almost repeating his earlier words. "I draw, in part, to keep his memory alive…" As he pulls the pad back to himself and sighs gently, beginning to draw once more.

"Oh…" The thought comes to mind now and she vaguely envisions her life without Daisuke, and then Daisuke's without her and frowns deeply. "I wish I could even partly empathize with that, but I can't really imagine what it'd be like without my brother…" Considering what almost happened twice now… one just a few nights ago, and the thing he told me about last night…

"..As much as I might not like my conditioning…with ANBU training ops….I suppose I can be a little appreciative to the fact that it helps me coup.." Sai responds, a gentle frown on his face as he continues his work.

"Hmm…" Watching him a moment, Kiyoko chews her lip. "I'm still two ways about ANBU, really. I understand their purpose, but most of them that I've met just seem to be missing pieces." She explains carefully.

Blinking at her before turning away again, Sai just sighs. "I suppose so. But then, all people truly seem to be missing pieces. ..And as for Kakashi-sensei, he seems more complete than most, now."

"Really? I haven't been paying a lot of attention to Kakashi, but I spend more of my time with Team 10." She informs before sitting back against the ground and folding her legs. "So why do you think?"

"Rin-san." He responds simply before hesitating and setting his pencil into his lap. "..She's brought a lot of new stress and pain into his life. …But at the same time, she relieves a lot of it, too. More than that, she offsets the balance, giving him new joys and bringing unique happiness into his life. …I really think she completes him in some way."

"did you hear that, Kakashi?" A brunette female asks as she stands upside down in a tree nearby, smiling up to the lounging male that lies upon the branch above her.

Sneezing once, Kakashi then just smiles with his eye. "I did."

"That's pretty insightful." Kiyoko then compliments. "You must be a fire sign; they're always pretty deep and observant." I'm not sure what Shikamaru's problem is with this guy, but then I've been duped by a member of ANBU before…

"..Why do you harbor ill feelings for ANBU?" The ink haired male asks after a moment, looking up to her questioningly. "If I didn't know better, I'd have said some part of you hated me from the moment you approached me. I've felt that feeling before…"

Blinking her eyes wide, a soft blush comes to her cheeks and she looks down a moment before clearing her throat. "Oh… um…" Rubbing the side of her neck softly and chewing her lip, she then pokes her fingers together cutely as she murmurs seriously. "I… well… there was someone… from ANBU and they… betrayed my trust horribly. I don't really mean to, it just is always a strong thought…"

"..So, you see us as all the same person." He surmises intuitively, looking back to his drawing pad and picking up his pencil once more.

Chewing her lip and sighing gently, she defends. "I… well… it's just… hard. Once you're in ANBU, you can disappear so easy. No matter what you do, you can use a false identity and just vanish."

"But most things outside of our mission; we get punished for. ANBU is very respectable, responsible and strict. When we do something that could possibly dishonor ANBU, we get the offensive portion of our body sealed, and it's rendered unusable to repeat the act; sometimes useless." He explains simply before frowning softly. I can't give out any more information than that. I doubt I would be able to if I tried.

Turning thoughtful at the perspective, she then quickly bites her lip and raises her hands to her mouth to stifle a laugh as her face turns a bit red and she looks off. Is he serious? Does that mean it's possible my ex could have his… oh wow…..

Furrowing his brows in thought, Sai watches her before asking simply. "Does that idea make you feel better?"

"Um… a little…" She offers before clearing her throat. "It might be a little cruel, but I can see the necessity." Then calming and watching him a moment, she then informs. "A couple of people've told me that you can be… kinda difficult to talk to, but I don't really see the problem."

"I try. Sometimes, it's difficult." He admits simply, looking up at the scene before them before looking back to the pad, drawing once more.

"Well, some people just don't click with certain types. Your star signs might not match up, or something." She offers back neutrally, then seeming thoughtful she asks. "I'm not distracting you too much am I?"

"No." He replies simply, continuing to draw.

They sit in quiet for a time, Kiyoko shifting to lean against the tree but at a different angle, then she reaches into a bag at her side and pulls out an apple, offering it to Sai silently.

Turning and blinking up at her oddly, Sai takes the apple and looks at her with a gentle frown of confusion. "…I'm not really working that hard, you know. I do this all the time."

Blinking alittle, she just raises a brow as she watches him before pointing out. "I thought you might appreciate it just the same."

Blinking at her yet again, he frowns deeply before suddenly standing with a slight nod. "I… Excuse me. I'll be back soon." Before he starts off back towards the rest of the village, leaving his drawing pad and pencil on the grass.

"Huh? Sai?" Naruto looks up as the pale skinned teen approaches. His jacket is tied around his waist, though he still wears a black t-shirt and the rest of his typical attire. Captain Yamato sit's a distance away surrounded by several wooden dragon statues.

Glancing to the sleeping Mitsuki, the young ANBU male offers out the apple to him before letting out a gentle sigh. "I apologize, Naruto."

"Huh? For what?" The blonde furrows his brows, watching the pallid skinned young man.

"Because… Because I sometimes don't understand things…and you work hard all the time anyway. All of your training is in a whole different league than even my own as ANBU and we all rely on you so heavily. I should have offered an apple to you before when I had the chance." He responds oddly, offering out his hand once more. "Please. I know it doesn't make much sense, but I want you to accept this from me. Something refreshing while you work and train."

Blinking slightly, Naruto then takes the apple and grins a bit. "Well… Thanks!" Then seeming thoughtful he holds the fruit between his palms and forms the seal of Tori with his fingers free. Molding his chakra around the apple, and then pushing it through he pulls it apart into three equal pieces and chuckles triumphantly. "Alright! Heheh!" Before offering one of the thirds back to Sai, and tossing the other to Yamato.

"Hey! Good job, Naruto. That's a really clean cut."

Holding the piece of apple, the black ops nin raises his brows before offering an impressed smile and a nod. "Thank you. But speaking of three… is that girl alright? Or is she not here with you?"

Eating his piece in only a couple of bites, Naruto swallows hard before looking to Mitsuki. "Oh, Mitsuki? She's my girlfriend." Chuckling and rubbing the back of his head he offers with a grin. "Apparently we go way back!"

"Oh..?" He asks, watching her for a moment before he asks in a way that makes Naruto think for a moment. "Does she mean…that much to you..?"

Blinking, Naruto crosses his arms as he nods sagely. "There was this guy named Haku, and he told me once, 'When someone appears, who loves you deeply, they should be the most important person in your life'. I didn't know much about Mitsuki until recently, but that's just one of a couple really important reasons why we're together now."

"Why else did you consider to have her as a girlfriend..?" Sai asks, seeming interested before he looks down thoughtfully at the piece of apple he holds.

Seeming thoughtful, the blonde slowly sits with his legs crossed in the grass. "Well, she's been looking out for me for a long time, even though I didn't really know it at the time, she was there in the only way she could be when I didn't think I had anybody. And she was actually interested in me. …And as far as I knew that was the first time anyone ever actually wanted to be around me."

Still seeming considerate, the black haired male then nods again before walking over to the pony tailed girl, looking down at her before calling softly. "Hey..!"

Blinking and jumping a bit, she rubs her eyes and bats her eyes a bit to shun the sleep from them, then blinks in confusion as Sai hands her the third of apple he had been holding. "…What-?"

"If you're this important to Naruto, I would like for us to be friends as well. And I hope for the two of you to be happy together, even though you may have some competition in his heart."

As Mitsuki blinks her eyes wide, Naruto blinks as well and rubs the back of his head. "What are you talking about, Sai?"

"By your reasoning, you have about the same reasons, if not more, to want Sakura-chan to be your girlfriend as you do Mitsuki-chan." He offers ignorantly, making Mitsuki flinch and whine cutely as her eyes fill with tears and she sits up.

Jumping up and rushing to the black haired girl almost instantly, Naruto hugs her tightly as he defends. "Nonono! I mean, I let go of that years ago now! And there's really no point with Sasuke around!" But as she begins to warble and cry sadly, Kakashi's voice offers.

"Not to mention what Naruto was telling me the other day; you remember, Naruto? It was something about how he must love you more than he ever loved Sakura, because…"

"…It's like it's meant to be!" Naruto finishes. Whoo, thanks, Kakashi-sensei… "That's why… even though we never lived near each other, we were still able to be together."

No one said everything Jiraiya-sama published was useless… Kakashi appraises as he nods sagely in agreement.

Sniffing cutely and wiping a tear away, the violet-eyed girl offers a sweet smile. "…really, Naru-kun..?"

"Yeah, really." Naruto nods reassuringly while Kakashi leans in to explain to Sai in a low tone.

"…just so you can understand, you should never compare women to each other when it comes to matters of the heart. ….you should also never compare yourself to other men, even if you know they're attracted to them…"

Blinking at him innocently, Sai seems to take in the information before nodding and sighing once slightly. "I guess I'm still learning a lot… Oh… Is it bad if you tell a woman to wait somewhere for you, and take a long time…?"

Raising his brows, Kakashi then nods again, putting a hand on his hip and shifting. "Yes. You should always be prompt when dealing with women."

"That's the only time Kakashi-sensei is prompt!" Naruto pipes in making the jonin twitch.

"How can you make it up to a girl when you're late?" He asks, seeming considerate.

Whoa, even Sai has a girl now? That's kinda freaky! Naruto thinks to himself while Kakashi seems thoughtful.

"Well, it depends on the type of girl." Kakashi explains carefully. He'll probably understand better if I give examples… "For example, a girl like Senka would probably appreciate something exciting, whereas a girl like… Ino would more prefer a small present of some kind; a flower or some kind of charm. You can even use it as the reason why you were late, even if its not entirely the case because it tends to soften the blow."

"It's too bad you don't have a legitimate book for this sort of thing, Kakashi-san." Yamato comments with a chuckle before offering to the younger ANBU. "More than anything, women appreciate honesty, Sai."

"Honesty and tact." Kakashi points out quickly.

"Ah yes! Of course. Good one, Kakashi-san." Yamato nods in agreement.

"Hmm…" Sai responds before nodding again. "Thank you both." He responds before turning and starting off. So…I should get her a charm then.