Her Destiny

Sai's Return

"Sai!" Sakura yelled, before jumping from her chair and running to the pale man, and throwing her arms around him. Sai stumbled under the sudden assault.

"Hello, Ugly. It is good to see you all safe."

Shisui watched the interaction, confused. "Ugly?"

Sai turned to the man. "Hello. I am Sai. I learned that those who are close to each other have nicknames for each other, hence the name Ugly."

"But why 'Ugly'? She's beautiful," Shisui said, before going red as a beet after realizing what he had just said. Sakura blushed to the roots of her hair.

"Thank you, Shisui-san," Sakura murmured.

Shikamaru snickered.

"Shut up, Shikamaru," Sakura mumbled, before turning back to Sai. "You said that you have Shisui's eye? How?"

"Oh, well when I took Danzo-sama into custody, I ripped it out of his eye socket and then placed a seal on him so that he couldn't tell anyone what I had done."

Shisui blinked. "You ripped it out of his eye socket?"

"Pfffttt!" Hinata couldn't hold it in any longer. "Hahahaha!"

Neji looked at his cousin like she had lost her mind.

"Oh, my goodness, Sai!"

"What did I do that is so funny?" Sai asked, clearly confused.

At hearing the chuckle from the Uchiha, he looked to him. "You just told us that you ripped an eye out of a man's head with a straight face. There's a certain humor to that."

"Oh," Sai mumbled. "Is this another one of those things that I will be learning, Ugly?"

Sakura giggled. "Yes, Sai. We will teach you all about humor. And could you please just call me Sakura? It wouldn't do for people to hear you calling the new Otokage, 'Ugly'."

"As you wish, Sakara-sama," Sai said, giving his signature, fake, smile.

Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Who is this guy?" Shisui asked.

"That is Sai," Shikamaru stated. "He used to be a member of ROOT, hence the lack of social aptitude. He was placed on Sakura's team after Sasuke left, to watch them, but Danzo did not account for the fact that Naruto has a very odd ability to turn just about everyone to his side, without even realizing it."

"But then, shouldn't he still be in Konoha with Naruto, instead of here?"

"Naruto changed me, but Sakura is the one that stayed with me and helped me understand things. Naruto abandoned her, afraid of her reaction, when he couldn't bring Sasuke back. Naruto is a coward. Between he and Ino Yamanaka, Sakura has dealt with enough pain for a lifetime."

Shisui gave the man a confused look.

"It is not my place to tell, Shisui-san," was all Sai said.

Shisui gave a nod, casting a curious glance at Sakura.

"It is nothing to worry about, Shisui-san," Sakura stated, but it was clear from the pain in her eyes that it was most definitely something to worry about. What had they done to this beautiful, pink haired, powerhouse to break her so thoroughly.

Because that's what he saw when he looked at her. A beautiful, broken woman. And he wanted to know just what had caused it.

"I just came to check in from my mission. The bounty was successfully collected, with no one the wiser as to who I was. I've been careful to keep a low profile since I left Konoha, not wishing to draw Danzo's eyes."