Rating: T+

Warnings: Pining, dick jokes, Sai's everything, general shinobi darkness, bromance, past canon character death, headcanons, post-699 AU, etc.

Word Count: ~4500

Pairings: Shikamaru/Sai, Sakura/Ino, platonic Sai-Ino bromanticness

Disclaimer: Hah. I want some of whatever Kishimoto was smoking, but Naruto's not mine.

Notes: Somehow the goddamned plot ran away with me, so my projected chapter count has now risen from 5 to possibly 15.

Shut up, I know.

Drowning in the Wishing Well

Chapter 2

"I'm still not entirely sure this is a good idea," Sai says doubtfully.

Ino makes a face that is likely intended to be longsuffering but ends up mostly amused. "Don't look like this is the worst thing you've ever done, Sai. You were on a team with Naruto."

"What does Dickless have to do with anything?" Sai wants to know, tugging futilely at the loose neckline of the shirt as if he can improve it through sheer willpower. It's not that he objects to showing skin—if he did, he and Ino wouldn't share clothes as frequently as they do—but if he ends up in a fight it's going to get in the way and be a hindrance.

Swatting his hands away, Ino redoes the loose sash holding both halves shut, gives him a look that warns him to leave it alone or face the consequences, and straightens up. "You might have noticed, but some of the things Naruto gets involved in are so ridiculous it makes me want to cry. And I know Sakura got dragged into things, so you probably did, too."

Sai opens his mouth to protest that missions with Naruto were fairly standard. Then he remembers kinjutsus capable of wiping out whole villages, an invasion of flying machines, time travel, dimension travel, and homicidal moon goddesses, and shuts it again.

Ino snorts, patting him on the head sympathetically. "Exactly. And besides, this will be fine. Just flirt with these people like you do with Shikamaru." She must catch the bewildered expression that Sai knows he's wearing, because she freezes, pale eyes narrowing. "Sai. How do you flirt with Shikamaru?"

"I don't? My books say flirting is a social and occasionally sexual activity involving verbal or written communication as well as body language by one person to another, either to suggest interest in a deeper relationship or—"

"Stop," Ino says, just shy of begging. She presses a hand over her face, takes a breath, looks at him, and then takes another. Sai can practically see her counting down from ten in her head, but he doesn't have any idea why. "Okay, let me rephrase this. When you want to have sex with Shika—" She makes a face like even saying those words pain her "—how do you let him know?"

"I tell him?" It comes out as more of a question than Sai meant it to.

Ino still has a hand pressed over her face. "Please tell me there's an 'or' in there somewhere."

Sai tries vainly to find the answer she's looking for. "I…also insult his dick?"

"Of course you do," Ino sighs. She raises her head and looks him over in something like despair, then says, "You know what? Let me do the talking. Just—just stand there and look pretty, okay?"

Standing there is something Sai is more than happy to do, so he nods agreeably, though he feels the need to point out, "I could find out much more information if they didn't know I was there."

"You can do that tomorrow." Ino wiggles a little to straighten her skirt, flips her hair—auburn right now, thanks to a henge, because the Yamanaka Clan Head and second-in-command of Konoha's T & I is fairly well-known even this far from the village—and hooks her arm through his. "Besides, this is a small village. Me wandering around alone would attract a lot more notice than a young couple in love."

Sai does not feel confident about his ability to hold up his half of the charade. There's a reason Ino always deals with the seduction part of seduction missions, or even the interaction part of information gathering, while Sai hangs back in the shadows and keeps an eye on things. It's not that he's never done it, but even when their targets prefer males he tends to let Ino do all the talking and feed him lines.

With the uncanny insight that's put her on the fast track to replace Ibiki when he retires, Ino catches that on his face despite his efforts to hide it and makes a soft sound of amusement. "Sai. Two-thirds of my clan is convinced we're madly in love and hiding it badly, and half the village regularly asks me when the wedding is. Just act like normal and you'll do fine."

Well, Sai can certainly do that. He squeezes Ino's arm a little, and she looks up at him and smiles warmly, patting his sleeve as she steers him out of the forest and towards the worn dirt track leading into the tiny village. Then her words register, and Sai almost trips over his own feet. "Wait, your clan thinks that we're—"

Ino laughs at him, and her grin is cheerful and a little wicked. "Sai, you practically live in my spare bedroom. All of your gear is at my house. We spend most of our time together, take all of our missions together, and go out to eat together. Of course they think we're dating."

Put that way, Sai supposes it makes sense, and besides. Sex friends isn't precisely something one would advertise, especially when that one is Nara Clan Head and Jounin Commander of Konoha. Extra especially when the Nara Clan Head's sex friend was formerly part of the borderline-traitorous Root organization.

"…Oh," is all Sai says, though the sharp glance Ino gives him means she probably read all of his thoughts in that one word. "I can go back to my apartment, if you want."

"I like having you around, though." Ino casts him a smile, and maybe half of it is for the sake of a farmer with an oxcart just leaving the village, but the other half is the familiar one Sai likes. Ino smiles very easily, very naturally, and Sai likes to think he's been learning from her example. Naruto even told him his face had stopped being quite so weird last time they met, which is definitely an improvement.

"If you're sure," Sai says, because Ino is quite likely his best friend, and he'd rather not make things difficult for her with her clan.

There's a brief pause, and when Sai looks down in concern there's a faint thread of melancholy in Ino's eyes. She feels his gaze and looks up, smile returning, though this time its cast is reassuring more than fond. "Honestly, Sai, I'm glad you're there. The house feels so empty sometimes. I'm not used to it being quite so quiet."

Inoichi's loss, like Shin's, is something they don't talk about, although there's a silent understanding between them that's built around it. Leaning in a little, Sai presses their shoulders together, and is relieved when Ino presses back.

"I'm glad to live with you, too," he returns, because it feels like he should say something, and the truth is probably a good start.

Ino laughs, merry and warm, and even framed by red-brown hair instead of her normal blonde, her pale eyes are brilliant. "We should make a pact. If neither one of us is married by the time we're thirty, let's marry each other. Then you get to be a Yamanaka and I get the clan off my back."

Sai's breath catches a little at the thought of having a clan name, of having a clan. He's always just been Sai, or a nameless Root member. What he has now, where he is—it's good. Amazing, compared to what he once thought he'd have. But to have a family and a name that isn't just a placeholder?

"Agreed," he says, and if Ino catches the roughness in the word she doesn't mention it.

"Come on," she says instead. "Let's find the inn, and then go find a bar."

There are things Sai likes less than information-gathering missions, but honestly not many. Hopefully they find someone to kill sooner rather than later. That's the part he's good at.

It probably says a lot about him that Sai would rather assassinate someone than gossip in a bar, but Sai is aware of who he is by now. He doesn't let it bother him, just follows Ino's lead and hopes the night ends quickly.

"Oh, how romantic!"

It takes far too much effort for Sai to keep his smile from sliding into a grimace.

"Isn't it?" Ino agrees in the airheaded little girl voice she always uses when she wants people to underestimate her. Sai is always kind of astonished that it works, because he can never quite manage to ignore the calculation in her gaze, the sharpness of her attention. Ino's remarkably good at manipulation, though, and not just when using it on Shikamaru and Choji. As she leans into Sai's side, the cook she's been regaling with the dramatic and thrilling tale of their elopement in the face of feuding families wipes her eyes and smiles broadly at them, clearly taken in.

"You make me want to be young again," she confesses, reaching out to pat Ino's hand. At the same moment her attention falls on Sai, and she adds, "An artist as well! That makes it even better!"

Sai has very little idea how his ability to draw makes a story lifted from a terrible romance novel better, but he smiles back, tries not to flinch away from the pinch Ino delivers to his ribcage, and says with inspiration pulled from one of Ino's more palatable books, "Now I'll always have my most beautiful subject with me."

The cook's eyes go teary again, and Ino kisses his cheek, so this was apparently the right response. Sai just hopes his breath of relief isn't as obvious as it feels.

After she wipes her eyes, the woman looks between them, then at Ino, apparently realizing that Ino is the talkative one between them. "What will you do now? Will your families come looking for you?"

Ino's expression clouds into beautiful sadness, weary with grief and wistfulness, and she takes Sai's hand in her own. Sai attempts to look properly besotted and simultaneously lost. "We're trying to find somewhere to settle. Our families have likely disowned us by now, but I know how to run a farm."

"And I'm willing to learn what I need to help Beautiful prosper," Sai adds, prompted by another pinch to his ribs. He's going to have a bruise by the time Ino is through with him.

Suddenly, the woman's pleasant, friendly face flickers with something like alarm. She stiffens, and Sai can feel Ino tense faintly against his side. Not noticeable to a civilian, but Sai can tell; it's clear she saw the same reaction.

"Oh," the woman says, but it's tight, and the enthusiasm that came so easily before is forced. "Well, my sister moved to this little town about a day and a half from here—she says her crops grow like nothing else. I can give you directions if you—"

"But this town is so pretty," Ino says, and it's her brainless voice but her attention is entirely fixed on the cook, reading every tell. Seeing that, Sai allows himself to shift back slightly, more of his focus on their surroundings. He's never failed to watch Ino's back before, and he's not about to start now.

"My sister's is prettier, I have to say," the woman tells her, and it sounds strangely desperate. "This town's too small for a bright young couple like you. Head north—good places to raise a family up there." With a surreptitious glance around the otherwise empty stand, she gathers up their empty plates and beats a quick retreat to the back.

Once the sound of running water and clinking plates rises, Ino leans back on her stool and hums thoughtfully. "That's pretty much the exact answer Hanabi got when she mentioned sticking around to investigate. Well, at least now we know it's not just shinobi they won't say anything to." She mulls the woman's words over for a moment, and then sighs, brushing her hair out of her face. "'Good places to raise a family up there'—implying that this isn't. Something's definitely happening here."

When Ino glances up at him, Sai meets her gaze with a smile, tipping his head faintly. "Did you notice? Everyone we've seen here is under fourteen or over forty." Ino blinks, eyes narrowing, and Sai adds, "Those between the two ages is far more likely to be a threat."

"And far more likely to survive hard labor." Ino glances towards the kitchen, mouth tightening. "You think it's a trafficking ring?"

Sai shrugs. He doesn't have enough information to say one way or the other, and he isn't about to speculate when both his and Ino's lives could be at risk from a wrong answer. "I think we should come back as ourselves, rather than as a couple in love."

Ino gives an exaggerated moue of disappointment, resting her chin in the cup of her hands. "That bar was dirty. I don't want to go back there."

"Then you can check the inn and I'll investigate the bar," Sai offers easily. He has no particular reservations about revisiting the bar, and he's fully aware that Ino can hold her own for more than long enough to call for help, should she need it at all.

"You're always so reasonable," Ino huffs, like it's a complaint. She lists sideways to lean against him, and Sai automatically runs his fingers through her hair. A sigh tickles against his skin, and then Ino nods. "All right. Let's get back to the inn and get changed."

The cook still hasn't come out, so Sai leaves the money for their food on the counter and joins Ino in the street. She stays close to him, their pinky fingers linked as they walk, and it's only partly for show—it's always easier to notice even the smallest tells in a partner when in physical contact, after all.

"There should be a lot more people here," Ino says quietly, and her smile is silly and besotted but it doesn't come anywhere close to her eyes. "Now that I'm looking I can see where they're supposed to be, so…where are they?"

Something prickles down the back of Sai's neck, like eyes on him, like something hostile. He doesn't let himself tense, doesn't look around, but the feeling is definitely there. Ino's fingers tighten around his, but he can't tell if she's reacting to the sensation of being watched or his own reaction.

Nowhere good, he thinks of saying, and he refuses to guess with their safety in the balance, but…that's not a guess at all. It's gut instinct, years as a shinobi suddenly alert and wary and watchful. He keeps his mouth shut, though; Ino is likely already thinking the same thing.

The shadows are Sai's territory. It's one of the reasons, he thinks, that he likes Shikamaru as much as he does. They have commonalities, and if anyone can appreciate the darkness the way Sai does, it's the man who quite literally controls it.

No one else looks closely enough. A patch of shadows is always just a patch of shadows—a possible threat, to another shinobi, or something to be avoided if they're a civilian. Sai sees a tool, a weapon, an escape.

He sticks to the lengthening shadows now, brush and scroll close at hand even if logic says he won't need them in a bar frequented by farmers and tradesmen. Easy enough to slip in through the storeroom and then stick to the edges of the rafters, watching people talk. There are only a handful, which fits the village's reduced numbers, and those here are hunkered down over their drinks, tense and wary. For the most part, they're not talking, which makes gathering information far more difficult.

There's one group in the corner that he's focusing most of his attention on, even if they're more interested in their drinks than each other. Weathered old farmers, three women and two men, already deep in their cups. Carefully, Sai hops across the rafters to perch over their heads, watching them carefully. One woman looks like she's been crying, and the other four are grim-faced.

It's only after the waitress has delivered another round of drinks that the woman with the red eyes moves, taking a shaky breath and raising her cup. "To Hajin," she says, and her voice breaks halfway through the name.

The fair-haired woman leans into her, setting their shoulders together. Comfort, Sai recognizes, because body language is simple enough to read when it's blatant like this. She lifts her cup as well, their companions doing the same, and all four echo, "To Hajin," in low tones.

The first woman sets her cup down, presses her hands over her face, and hunches down like she's about to start crying again.

"I hate this," the dark-skinned man say, barely loud enough for Sai to catch. "If those bastards think they can keep doing this—"

The third woman makes a low, angry noise. "Quiet, Tomi. If we just—they'll move on soon. They'll have no choice."

"When?" the second woman asks, bitter and low. "When all of us are dead and there's nothing left here? I say we should march out into the woods and—"

"No." The second man lays a hand over hers, squeezing tightly. "If we do that, it's throwing our lives away. They'll leave soon. We have to believe that."

The crying woman makes a sound like a muffled wail, full of grief and pain, and that's clear enough for Sai to recognize without help. He curls his fingers around his brush, glancing around the room, and marks the way everyone else is very carefully not watching the small gathering. No attention on it, no glances over, but grim faces all around.

They'll leave soon, Sai thinks, and with a few sweeping strokes of his brush a magpie is leaping from the paper, spreading its wings and dropping to land on Sai's arm. He inks a careful line of characters across the painted feathers, then murmurs, "Find Ino," and tosses it into the air. The magpie swoops down, impossible to mark against the surrounding darkness, and right out into the night through a cracked-open window.

Sai himself slips out through the back room while the waitress is distracted, then pauses to get his bearings. He's certain that the villagers weren't talking about himself and Ino when they said that, so logically he can assume they mean another group, clearly dangerous and likely the cause of the disappearances.

I say we should march out into the woods.

So. The forest is the most likely place to find them. That opens up a lot of territory, but not an unmanageable amount. Sai can likely cover most of it himself in a single night, if he works fast enough. Ino can help, if his bird finds her, but Sai is the better at tracking between the two of them, and he's already close to the woods. They didn't see anything on their way in, coming from the east, so the western edge of town is the sensible place to start.

Sai doesn't allow himself to waver or feel fatigue; he's a shinobi on a mission, and that's for later.

(He doesn't allow himself to think, just for a moment, of Shikamaru and the way he woke up, curled into warm skin with the steady rise of Shikamaru's ribcage against his shoulder. Doesn't allow himself to think of relaxing, finally sliding down from the eternal alertness that Danzō drilled into him. Doesn't think of peace and rest and sleep and warmth, because those things don't belong here and now.)

No time for weakness, or for waiting. Sai leaps forward into a run, low and fast, with every sense alert. Out of the tiny village, into the weighty darkness of the trees, and this is as familiar as pain. He checks for prints, barely slowing, then leaps for the branches when he finds none. One degree south, then back to the ground to trace the start of another footpath, but it only leads to a shallow creek. Another degree, and there's no path at all. Another, and another, and—

A check of the sky shows that it's still hours until dawn, and the moon is faint, but Sai pauses anyway, scouring the ground more carefully as he makes a second pass. What catches his attention is a faint scuff, barely even enough to be considered a partial footprint, but it's the only one he sees and that makes it suspicious. Villages can't hide their tracks like this, and so close to the road they wouldn't bother. There's no prey to stalk here, and the print is relatively fresh. A day old, or maybe two—there was a storm the day before that, so it couldn't be older.

Covered tracks likely mean a shinobi, though. Sai stays crouched where he is for a long moment, considering. Ino is a sensor, and a very good one, so if he can't pick up a trail she can try scanning for their target. But, while that makes things easier, facing off against shinobi could be a problem, since even missing-nin tend to be hired by someone else. They'll be looking for a client, too, if that's the case.

Sai takes a breath, reminding himself not to jump to conclusions. It's always been one of his flaws as an operative—no. As a shinobi, because he's not Root anymore. Guesses and wild conjunction won't help until he can find actual evidence on something.

Decided, Sai slides deeper into the undergrowth, looking for any more missed prints. There aren't any, but several yards to the east he finds a hair clinging to a low twig. It's too dark to make out the color, and Sai doesn't try to grab it in case it's a signal of some sort, but it's a good marker. That direction takes him to another half-blurred footprint, this one clear enough to recognize as a shinobi sandal, and by the size likely a man's.

He's just rising from his crouch as a flash of pale hair announces Ino's arrival. She drops from the treetops to land without even stirring the dirt, and when she rises her eyes are sharp.

"Other side of the village is clear. Find anything?"

Sai tips his head at the print. "They conceal themselves about as well as Dickless."

Ino snorts quietly, checking the direction and then falling into step with him as they head deeper into the trees. "Naruto wouldn't even bother with that much. If I wanted to track him and Sasuke I'd just look for destroyed mountains and smoking craters in the ground."

Somehow, Sai suspects she's not too far off from the reality of things. Not that he would want to look for Naruto. Or Sasuke, for that matter. Unless, of course, he wanted to mock Naruto for practically eloping with his former enemy.

It's tempting, but Sai has resisted this long. Mostly by saving up all his jokes for when Naruto and Sasuke inevitably get done wandering the continent like bums and head back to Konoha.

"Confident," Ino murmurs as they find a patch of displaced pebbles, scraped by an errant step. She ducks under a low branch, a flick of her fingers directing Sai's gaze towards the glancing imprint of a much smaller sandal. A woman, likely, and if there's not just one person working alone the odds immediately shift towards a group of more than two. That's how shinobi luck—and Konoha luck in particular—tends to work. Simple missions never stay simple, you're always outnumbered, the odds are always much higher than assumed, and the stakes are generally world-ending.

Or, of course, it's possible that Sai was simply on a team with Uzumaki Naruto for too long and is overreacting.

(He really doesn't think he is.)

"They haven't been caught yet," he reminds his partner, checking their heading. They're a good ways from the village by now, but not so far as to be inconvenient for someone walking. And—

"Sai," Ino says, and her voice is sharp in the way that normally means an attack is barreling at their heads.

Sai jerks around on instinct, immediately looking for the threat, but there isn't one. Ino is just standing there, staring at the trunk of a particularly large tree. Any complaints Sai might think to make for the fright die on his tongue the moment he sees her face, though; she's about three shades paler than normal, her eyes wide and very close to frightened, kunai in hand. Quickly, Sai joins her, trying to follow her gaze to what has her so alarmed.

It's not difficult to spot, but one glance and Sai's breath catches in his throat.

There's a mark inscribed into the trunk of the tree, shallow lines that only just manage to catch the shadows enough to be visible right now. A circle, perfectly round, surrounding an inverted triangle, edges contained within the ring.

The symbol of Jashin, Sai thinks, and can't fight the instinctive urge to curl his fingers just a little more tightly around his tantō's hilt. That's the symbol of Jashin, leagues and years away from where it has any business being, and even the knowledge that Hidan is buried deep beneath the earth on Nara Clan lands isn't enough to stop the chill that chases down Sai's spine.

He curses whatever worst-case luck haunts all the members of Team 7, because this?

This is so very far past worst-case scenario, and Sai has a sinking suspicion that the only direction this mission can go is downhill.