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Sai had a predicament. He wasn’t quite sure what it was, but he could tell that something was off and it was frustrating him. He had been spending more time with Sakura lately-- the girl had recently deemed it her responsibility to help him understand the art of socializing after several very awkward encounters involving Sai being a blunt fool. He had found during this time spent together with the kunoichi that he had become increasingly nervous-- was that this feeling in the pit of his stomach?-- around her, and was now acutely aware of everything she did. He had even noticed that when she would place a hand on his shoulder-- a friendly gesture he had become acquainted with-- that he would tense up and sometimes even blush. It was… disturbing, to say the least.
After Sakura had told him that he should learn emotions from experience and not books, he had returned all of his “self discovery” texts to the library. Now, without the aid of his only source of knowledge, he was stumped. He wasn’t quite sure how to go about this new problem. He considered confronting Sakura about it directly, but when he thought about it, the idea made his insides churn uncomfortably. So, he decided to find someone else to help him out. He was going through a mental list of the people he knew and had socialized with in the past, when it dawned on him-- who better to discuss his newfound awkwardness regarding Sakura than Sakura’s best friend herself? He decided then that he would pay Ino a visit, and hopefully figure out what was going on.
~
Sai was just about the place a hand on the door to the Yamanaka flower shop when it swung open abruptly, causing him to stumble backwards momentarily. Sai blinked a couple times before regaining his composure.
“Oh, hey Sai! What’re you doing here?” Ino asked-- so she had been the one to nearly assault him with the door.
“Oh, I was actually about to see if I could speak with you. There are some matters that I wish to discuss with you,” Sai explained. Even though he had gradually become more accustomed to speaking with people in a social setting, he maintained his formal speech patterns.
Ino raised an eyebrow at his words. “And what is it you would like to ‘discuss’?” she asked skeptically. Sai found his cheeks heating up involuntarily.
“It… has to do with Sakura. I have noticed some issues of sorts in my interactions with her, and I was hoping that you could help me to resolve them,” Sai furthered his earlier statement. Ino looked him in the eye for a moment before smiling at him with something he would later learn to be “mischief” evident in her expression.
“Okay, follow me,” was all the girl said before walking off. Sai did as instructed, following Ino into a small tea shop a couple blocks away from their prior location. They sat down at a table in the corner and waited patiently for someone to come take their order. When a small, brunette arrived to do just that, they both ordered just plain black tea. The same girl arrived a few minutes later with their drinks, then left them alone to their conversation.
“So,” Ino started, staring at Sai intently. “What exactly are these ‘issues’ you mentioned?” She kept his gaze as she took a small sip from her tea. Sai swallowed at the intense look in her eyes.
“I don’t know exactly,” the pale boy admitted. “All I know is that I have started to become anxious around her, though I don’t think I’m afraid of her. I am also now more aware of her I suppose.” Ino didn’t have to voice her question. “In that, I feel like I notice it too much when she’s near me, or when we make any kind of contact,” he continued.
Ino thought long and hard about his words, scanning his face all the while for any signs of deception. She came to a conclusion that made her smirk and let out a giggle that should have sounded cute coming from the pretty girl, but that Sai would describe as “sinister.”
“It’s simple,” Ino said, her grin unsettling him. “You have a crush.” Sai did not hide the shock that he felt. A crush? That was a word used to describe the beginnings of romantic feelings for another, was it not? Certainly that couldn’t be the case.
When he voiced his objection, Ino just shook her head. “You’ve clearly got a thing for her,” she insisted. “All the signs point to it! You can’t deny it.”
Now that he thought about it, Ino’s words seemed to make more and more sense. From what he had learned, his symptoms did lean towards the conclusion that he had feelings for his teammate. Sai was uncomfortable with this outcome.
“How do I get rid of these emotions?” He asked. He looked so determined that it was almost amusing. Ino just sighed.
“First of all, you can’t just stop loving someone on a whim. Second, why would you want to anyways?” She took another sip of her tea, waiting for an answer.
“These feelings are unnerving, and I do not wish for them to affect my capabilities in the field-- especially when working with Sakura,” Sai said. His reasoning was logical and made perfect sense for a shinobi raised the way he was, but Ino could tell there was something more. She liked to think of herself as a Love Expert after all.
“And is there anything more?” she prompted him, hoping he could come to the realization on his own. Sai frowned at her, confused as to why she would think there would be any other reason for him to dislike this new development. The duo was silent as he thought, attempting to dig into his repressed emotions and desires in search of an answer. He found it, though he was reluctant to admit it.
“I suppose that I do not want these feelings because I am… scared?” He asked, more than told. Ino nodded urging him to continue.
“And what are you scared of?” She waved her hand in a gesture for him to finish his thought process. He furrowed his brow and then spoke.
“Rejection.” The single word caused Ino’s expression to soften. She knew Sai to be closed off and unaware of the emotions of others and himself; she had learned as much from her own experiences with him as well as what Sakura had told her. But here he was, expressing himself and his discomfort so openly in a way that left him vulnerable . She knew he was uncertain of himself and what he was experiencing-- he needed comfort.
“Sai,” her voice was gentle, “love can be scary for many reasons, mainly because of the uncertainty of it all. But letting that fear you feel hold you back will end up hurting you.”
“But wouldn’t it also hurt to not have those feelings reciprocated?” Sai countered. Ino had a sad smile on her face.
“Yes, it does hurt. But I think it would hurt more to never know. At least if you confront your feelings and express yourself to someone, you get closure-- even if it’s through rejection,” Ino tried her best to help him understand. “Imagine watching Sakura fall in love with someone else without knowing how you feel. Imagine knowing yourself that you missed your chance to at least express yourself. Imagine just watching from a distance, wondering what could have happened if you had taken that risk and told her how you felt. I believe that the ‘what if’s hurt more than anything else,” she concluded. Sai nodded, trying his best to envision himself in that situation. He quickly concluded that he didn’t like it at all.
“So, how should I go about this?-- telling her about these emotions, that is,” he asked. Ino looked surprised at his words-- she wasn’t sure if she would be able to get to him. But she smiled at the fact that he was learning, and doing his best to understand how to feel.
“Well, Sakura is a very up-front kind of girl. She doesn’t like it when people dance around an issue. I think you should just march up to her and tell her straight up what you feel for her,” Ino advised, hoping to any God(s) out there that she wasn’t misleading the poor boy.
Sai nodded and stood up, a newfound look of resolve on his face. Ino thought it quite funny how he looked like he was about to go on an S-Class mission. Though, knowing how hard this must be for him, she was also proud of him for putting on a brave face and tackling his emotions head-on.
~
Sai made his way to Ino’s flower shop a few hours later, holding an ice pack to a rapidly swelling black eye, and a tissue shoved up one nostril. When he entered the shop, he waved at Ino to get her attention. When she saw the state of his face, she rushed over, yelling at Shikamaru, who was lazing around in the back, to take the register.
“Sai! What happened?” She pulled him into the back of the shop so that he could sit down.
“I confessed my feelings to Sakura. She punched me,” Sai told her. Though he tried to keep his tone void of emotion, she could see how disappointed he looked.
“Did she say why she punched you?” Ino asked. Sure, Sakura could be violent at times (a lot of the time), but she didn’t think that the other kunoichi was the kind of person to react that way to a confession of love.
“She said something about how I shouldn’t say things like that to mess with her,” Sai mumbled. He was obviously upset by this turn of events, not quite getting why Sakura had hit him like that. But Ino could get a good idea as to why she had done so.
“I guess she thought you were joking to get a rise out of her,” Ino said, looking sorry at the bruised boy.
“But I wasn’t,” Sai looked down.
“But she doesn’t know that. I suppose she wouldn’t expect something like that to come from you, since you’re still having trouble grasping your own emotions,” Ino mused.
“Then how am I supposed to get her to understand that I’m being serious?” Sai asked, confused and hurt by the whole situation.
“Well I thought that our first approach would surely work, but I was wrong about that-- sorry, by the way,” she smiled at him in apology. He just sighed, keeping the melting ice pack in place and opting not to say anything. “Let me think for a moment.”
Sakura was a girl who liked to see and hear things plainly, without a situation being dressed up. But she’s also sensitive to emotions, and a bit of a romantic, so maybe she’d like something with more meaning. Something that she could easily decipher and understand to be genuine. Ino snapped her fingers as she had an epiphany.
“I’ve got it!” She put her hands on her hips and hummed. “Sakura doesn’t like things that are excessive, but she does like it when someone puts thought into things-- it makes it more meaningful. At the same time, she likes it when she can understand what’s going on. So, something that she’s familiar with, but would take a bit of effort to prepare, would surely make her see that you mean business!”
“And that would be?” Sai was mildly intimidated by Ino’s enthusiasm.
“Flowers!”
~
After about an hour of Ino dragging him around the shop and babbling about the different meanings of flowers, and how she had taught most of them to Sakura, Sai finally had a full bouquet. It consisted of white carnations (pure love), gladiolus (strength of character, faithfulness), hydrangea (heartfelt emotions, gratitude), and azalea (fragile passion, feminine beauty). It was quite the mix, and Ino was almost skeptical of his random choices, but each flower held its meaning and would hopefully convey his thoughts to Sakura.
Sai stood outside Sakura’s door, mustering up the courage to knock. When he finally did, he heard a muffled “hold on!” before the door was opened a few moments later. When Sakura’s eyes met his she immediately glared, causing the pale boy’s heart to stammer. Before Sakura could say anything (or punch him again), he thrust the bouquet at her, looking away bashfully, a blush finding its way onto his cheeks.
Sakura was surprised, to say the least. She had been fuming earlier at Sai’s “confession”, thinking that he was just messing with her. But as she examined the flowers he had pushed towards her, taking in their meanings, she thought that maybe he was being truthful. She gently took the bouquet from his grasp, causing Sai to slowly turn his face towards her. He seemed to realize that she wasn’t going to hit him, and his tense shoulders relaxed a bit. However, he was still on edge; Sakura had yet to say anything. They looked at each other for a while, and no matter how uneasy her stare made him, he just couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away. She was beautiful. He had noticed this before, of course, but now he was really examining her and he found his heart beating even faster and his stomach twisting in knots as he took in her astounding looks.
“Sai,” Sakura’s voice snapped him out of his trance. “Are you-- do you really mean this?” she asked, and Sai noticed that she was now blushing too. He nodded vigorously.
“I do. I was unsure of what I was feeling at first, but Ino helped me realize what my feelings for you were,” he said earnestly. “She also helped with the bouquet,” he sheepishly admitted. Sakura giggled.
“I figured-- you don’t seem like the kind of guy who studies flowers,” she replied, a small smile on her face.
“So…” Sai trailed off, his voice becoming quieter. “Do-- do you accept my proposition?” he asked nervously. Sakura blinked at him.
“I’m not marrying you,” she said blankly. Sai’s eyes snapped wide open, and he started shaking his hands in wild gestures.
“No, no, no! That’s-- I didn’t mean like that! I--” he gulped. “I think I’m trying to ask you… on a date,” he finally concluded. Sakura grinned, thinking his awkward fumbling was adorable.
“I would love to go on a date with you, Sai,” she said honestly.
“Really?” he asked, hopeful, but still wary of being rejected. Sakura nodded her head eagerly.
“Yeah! I’ve actually kind of like you for a while, but wasn’t sure if you felt anything like that for me. You can be kind of hard to read,” she admitted, shrugging her shoulders. Sai was shocked. He didn’t think that Sakura could actually like him like that. He had been told countless times that he was ignorant, cold, heartless, infuriating, etc., so he didn’t really think that anyone could feel like that towards him. The realization that Sakura did made his chest feel warm and brought a genuine smile to his face. He was practically beaming.
They planned their date and and eventually said good night, as it was getting later into the evening. Sai was reluctant to leave Sakura’s side, but willed himself to do so with the knowledge that he would be seeing her again the next day. On a date . He had never been quite so excited , and instead of scaring him, the bubbly feeling in his chest made him hopeful.