For a split second in time, Temari allowed herself to feel relieved. Shed reached Shikamaru in time.

After that conversation with Gaara, Temari had headed to Konoha and questioned Naruto. The blonde ninja didnt have any answers for her.

But, just like Temari, Naruto had been havinga weird feeling that something about Shikamaru just wasnt right lately. Ino and Chouji were consulted as well, and when those vague feelings of wrongness strengthened into certainty, Naruto had brought Temari with him to go and press Kakashi for answers.

Narutos bloodcurdlingly blunt speeches bothered Kakashi on one side, while Temari requested she bring in reinforcements from Suna on the other. And, eventually, he caved in.

Under the promise that they werent to aggravate the situation, Sunagakures shinobi were given the consent to move out.

Temari had made prior arrangements with her village so that her back-up could start heading out immediately if necessary. As soon as she got Kakashis consent, Temari sent out a message to her village, and then started running towards the Country of Silence. En route, she met up with the group of Sunagakure shinobi that Gaara was leading.

The moment they entered the country, they started picking out handy people for questioning.

At this point, it had already been 10 days since Shikamaru had set out for the Country of Silence. Temari was losing her presence of mind in her hurry, and her interrogations turned more severe. Soon enough, one man who called himself an Enlightened One blurted out that the shinobi from Konohagakure had been taken prisoner inside the countrys castle.

As soon as she knew that, the rest was easy.

They infiltrated the castle with a sand shield made by Gaara. Temari had led her small armada down the corridors, taking out guards before they could call out an alarm, and slowly, stealthily making their way to the great hall. It had been good timing, too, right when Shikamaru was almost about to give his allegiance to Gengo.

The moment that Temari saw Shikamaru looking like he was being affected by Gengos talk of shinobi ruling the world, she had lost all self-control.

Shikamaru wasnotthe kind of man who would be swayed by that sort of crap!

When Temari summoned her win to blow off the doors to that hall and lunge inside, her body wasnt being commanded by her. She was fuelled by pure, unadulterated fury.

Hearing it was a genjutsu had made her feel relieved

After waking up, Shikamaru had turned back into the man she knew. Hed faced on Gengo with a bloody nose and his usual lazy eyes, and just the sight of him had been enough to make Temari feel like everything up to now had been worth it.

You shouldnt be so absentminded right now.

It was the Konoha shinobi who said that, with a mechanical smile on his face. The paintbrush clutched in his hand had been giving life to countless tigers and wolves for a while now. At this moment, hed summoned a wickedly snarling white tiger. Out of all the ink animals hed summoned, this one looked the most vicious.

If she remembered right, the guys name was Sai

Naruto and Sakuras teammate.

Absentminded? Im not the one repeating the same attack over and over again. Temari muttered under her breath, and swung her tessen, her whole body twisting into the movement.

Her tessens wind transformed into a sickle-wielding weasel: Kamatari. He twisted and spung his body along with the winds current, lunging towards the tiger and slashing at its throat with his sickle. Sais tiger melted back into lifeless ink, collapsing in on itself into the ground.

Its admirable how you lack even the slightest bit of hesitation. Sai commented.

Temari turned to look at where his voice had come from.

Gone!

When had he disappeared, and where to?

She hadnt even had the time to follow his movements with her eyes

A shinobi who can see through the Ink Body Flicker Jutsudoes not exist.

Sai had teleported right behind her.

He was definitely going to go in for a stab.

She wasnt going to be able to turn around in time.

Left or right?

Oh, screw it!

Shed have to make a gamble.

Silently hoping a blade wouldnt follow, Temari shifted her body towards the right. A tigers claw swung in her direction, grazing her left eyebrow.

Too nave. Sais voice was cold enough for chills to go up a persons spine.

When had he teleported in front of her?

Dammit!

Temari swung her tessen alongside her body as a make-due shield. Her fan had been custom made so that its weaving was strong enough to deflect iron blades. She was completely protected against weapons such as kunai.

But

Guh!

Temari collapsed where she had stood, a sharp pain piercing through her abdomen.

The manipulation of chakraIts my specialty. Sai said, in a blank, innocent voice. The kunai he was holding had pierced straight through Temaris war fan and into her stomach.

There was something faintly coiling around the weapon, like mist.

Chakra.

Hed wrapped the kunai in chakra so thick you could actually see it. The blades strength and sharpness mustve increased by ten folds.

No matter how hard you fight, none of you are a match for Gengo-sama. Sai said. At the end of the day, we enlightened ones will end up controlling the world.

Is thatreally what you want?

Yes. Sai let a smile break across his face. He didnt look like someone under a genjutsu. Unshakable faith in Gengo was written all over Sais face.

But

Well then Temari said with difficulty. Whyre you crying?

The tear that had leaked out of Sais right eye hadnt escaped Temaris notice.

In the depths of his heart, he was at conflict.

I am not crying. Sai grit out, and his grip tightened on the kunai, preparing for one final lunge.

Temari held her breath.

GET A HOLD OF YOURSELF AND WAKE UUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!

Suddenly, Sai was knocked off his feet by a barrelling kunoichi. He was thrown out of Temaris field of vision entirely, the kunai hed stabbed her with clattering to the floor.

Are you okay? The kunoichi asked as she supported Temaris collapsed form.

SaSakura?

Hold on, dont talk right now. Sakura said, Ill be sealing up the wound in your stomach.

Chakra surrounded the kunoichis hand as she gentle pressed against the opening of Temaris wound. Warm waves of chakra gently enwrapped her stomach.

WaitSai?

Its alright, our comrades are handling it.

Eh? Temari shifted to look in the direction Sai had been sent flying.

Someone was pinning Sai down to where hes been thrown by Sakura.

Giant

No mistake. That giant man was definitely Shikamarus best friend.

Chouji! A long-hired kunoichi yelled from behind him. You keep restraining him like that!

Shikamaru was in danger, but the shinobi of Konoha didnt mobilise to help him. Sakura imitated a citizens comment as she healed Temaris stomach. Itd be really irritating if the case turned out like that, so

There were two shinobi standing behind Sakura, both covered in wounds. One was a middle aged man with a fearsome face. The other was a girl many years younger than Temari.

Temari gritted her teeth against the pain of her wound, and turned to speak to Sakura again.

Hes undera genjutsu

Its okay, Sakura assured her, We already heard from these two.

The two shinobi standing behind her nodded in affirmation of her words.

Alright! Everythings prepared! The long-haired kunoichi yelled at Chouji, holding out her palms.

Sai was struggling furiously under Choujis giant body, his face full of bloodlust. He was snarling through grit teeth, light shining on his canines.

Ninja art Shintenshin no Jutsu! The long-haired kunoichi yelled.

As long as that jutsu of Inos works, it should be fine. Sakura murmured.

Chouji released Sai, backing away.

Sai got to his feet.

It was one instant.

As if struck by lightning, a shudder went through Sais body, and he stopped moving. Across him in perfect symmetry, Inos body had stiffened as well.

Ahh, there we go. Its all good now. Sakura slowly removed her hand.

The pain in Temaris stomach had completely disappeared.

Ino was diving inside darkness. Deeper and deeper still.

She still hadnt found Sai.

No matter how much she dived and dived, all that surrounded Ino was a deep, inky blackness.

This was Sai, after all. He wasnt fully aware of who his true self was on a daily basis. He wasnt going to be found easily.

But she was going to save him no matter what

Because if Ino couldnt save Sai, then her coming here would be meaningless.

She desperately continued floundering through the layers of Sais heart.

The shintenshin no jutsu could make you move someone elses body according to your own will, and the method to it was exerting your influence from the insides of those peoples hearts. During the chuunin exams, Ino had clearly realised this when she and Sakura had fought for control of the latters heart.

Back in Konoha, she had read Sais letter, seen his handwriting turned messy and chaotic with a grief she couldnt hope to grasp. In that moment, Ino had felt Sais suffering so keenly that ithurt.

At that moment, Ino hadnt yet known about Gengo or the genjutsu or anything else, but she had clearly thought to herself that shehadto go. Of course, she wanted to save Shikamaru as well, but the trigger for Ino to start moving was Sais distressed letter.

Sai, who was constantly worried about the blankness of his own heart, was suffering more than anyone else under Gengos genjutsu. There was no one who could save Sai from that other than Ino.

And that was why she was determined to keep diving, no matter how deep she had to go.

When you dived too deep into other peoples hearts, the first thing that would happen was your own existence starting to blur at the edges.

The last thing that would happen was your consciousness disappearing completely in those depths. Once that happened, there was no turning back.

There was a reason Ino was taking such a big risk to save Sai.

She wanted to talk to him more.

Sai who always gave such lonely smiles, she wanted to get to know him more and more.

There was no way she could leave him in a dark place like this.

Soon, Ino started to feel some faint warmth coming from the darkness. A faint light

Shed come across a large gathering of chakra. A mix of peoples chakra

Naruto.

Sakura.

Yamato.

Kakashi.

All of Konohas shinobi were there.

It was like a lone fire burning in the middle of a blizzard.

Ino dived a little, eyes peering into the giant tangle, searching amidst everyones chakra.

There he was

Cocooned in the middle of everyones warmth was Sai.

Sai! Ino desperately reached out for him. Over here!

Sai looked up at the sound of her voice. Both his eyes were red and swollen from crying.

Come on. Ino said. Lets get out of here together.

Youre

Ino reached out, her hand finally landing on Sais shoulder, firm and reassuring.

Lets go, alright? She said.

In that moment, Sai smiled.

Ino had never seen him smile so naturally before.

Ino was breathing deeply and heavily, as if shed just broken through the surface of a very deep ocean. She took in great lungfuls of air, her body desperate for oxygen.

The darkness had been left behind, and now the background was brimming with light.

Sakura and Chouji were standing guard over them. Ino was sitting across the sleeping Sai.

Howd it go, Ino?

Although she heard Choujis question, Ino was too drained to answer.

Sais head was close to Inos knee. Slowly, his eyes opened.

Before she noticed who had reached out first, they had clasped their hands together.

Sai.

You Sai dazedly murmured, tightening his hold. You were

You can stop worrying already. Tears had started leaking out of Inos eyes.

Thank you, miss beautiful.

Idiot

The two gently smiled at each other.