Sai was not used to his body behaving in such a bothersome manner, but according to his books, a good way of relieving it was to do something called "masturbation".

He sat down comfortably on his bed, naked, ready for a new experience. His cock was hard – this seemed to happen particularly when he thought about his team captain, Yamato – so he wrapped his hand around it curiously and started stroking up and down lightly.

The sensation definitely wasn't unpleasant – although he was trained to handle unpleasant things in general, so would have continued if it was – so he continued at that pace for a while until he twisted his hand slightly and let out a slight gasp as his thumb brushed enjoyably over a particularly sensitive area.

He sped up his pace a little after spreading his pre-cum over the head of his cock, forcing back any noise that threatened to escape his throat.

He let his thoughts drift to Yamato as he palmed himself. The books had stated that it was normal to think about a person to whom one was sexually attracted while doing this, and Sai had recently determined that he must indeed be sexually attracted to Yamato.

He wondered briefly if it was strange or inappropriate to be thinking about his cock in Yamato's mouth in particular – a blowjob, he had read – as he touched himself this way. The thought quickly vanished from his mind though as he realised that thinking of receiving a 'blowjob' from his team captain made this act of 'masturbation' even more pleasant.

Sai let his head rest back against the headboard as he let himself imagine Yamato's hands and lips on his skin as he thrust up slightly into his own hand.

Choking back a gasp, he felt pleasure surging through his body, his muscles tensing as his heart felt like it would burst out of his chest. He half-watched helplessly as his cock spurted ropes of warm semen, which spattered down onto his stomach and legs, spilling onto the sheets.

After a few minutes, he sat up, still coming down from that pleasurable high. He hadn't expected it to make quite that much mess, so he stood, feeling somewhat dizzy, to clean himself and change the bed sheets.

The very next morning, he was called on a mission with his usual team – Naruto, Sakura and Yamato.

Upon seeing Yamato, Sai found his face heating up as he thought about his experience the night before. He had already recognised and accepted the way his body reacted to his captain but this time, along with his face becoming uncomfortably warm, his heart rate increased more than it normally would have around the older man, and he felt a little… worried? Anxious, perhaps? He hoped he wasn't coming down with something.

The Hokage briefed them on their mission and they agreed to set out immediately. Sai had not made eye contact with any of his teammates, but as they walked out of the village's main gates, Sakura caught his eye. She and Sai fell in step a few metres behind Naruto and Yamato.

"Are you alright?" she asked gently.

"I'm uncertain," Sai replied. "I might be getting sick."

"It's not too late to return to the village," Sakura said, looking concerned. "This isn't a big mission – I'm sure the three of us can handle it. You shouldn't go on a mission if you're ill."

Sai felt a fleeting emotion at her implication that he wasn't really needed but it passed too quickly for him to identify it. "I think I will be alright," he said.

Sakura didn't look convinced, but she simply said, "Well, if you start feeling any worse, just let me know and I will check up on you. That's what I'm here for."

They continued along in silence for some time, and Sai noticed that Sakura kept watching him as they ran through the forest, towards the area where their target, a rogue ninja from another village, had been spotted.

After searching the area for an hour, Yamato signalled for them to take a break.

"It looks like our target is no longer in the area," Yamato stated as they sat down to rest. "Sai, could you send out some birds or mice to see if you can track him?"
Sai's breath caught in his throat as Yamato said his name. "Yes, Yamato-taichou," he responded, forcing himself to remain calm. His books had stated that it was normal to feel nervous around the person one was attracted to, but he often found himself disappointed because when he was around Yamato, it was as though all of his intense training was forgotten.

Ignoring the fact that he hadn't been ordered to track their target in the first place, Sai took a deep breath and drew out several birds and mice on his scroll, bringing them to life. At least he didn't falter in his art – not even Yamato could cause him to lose focus on that.

They waited for Sai's beasts to give him feedback. Naruto yawned and leaned against a rock casually as though taking a nap. Sakura fussed with their supplies close to Sai, worrying that their mission might take more than one day, as they had estimated. Yamato shuffled through the small stack of papers that the Hokage had given him, looking for more clues as to where their target could be.

Sai could only wait for his mice and birds to return, so he found himself watching Yamato. Long eyelashes fluttered slightly as he read through the documents, the sunlight glinting off of the faceplate that he always wore. Sai took in the perfectly smooth tone of Yamato's skin and the way the older man worried at his lip as he read.

Just watching those lips made Sai wonder again what it would be like to have Yamato's mouth pressed against his own, trailing along his body, licking at his cock…

"Sai?" Sakura asked softly from next to him, looking alarmed.

Naruto continued napping but Yamato looked towards them questioningly.

Sai realised that his face was hot, his breathing was laboured and his heart rate was up – again. He focused back on his blank-at-the-moment scroll. "It's nothing – I'm alright."

Sakura remained silent.

"Our target is located in the mountains north-west of here," Sai said suddenly. "He's stopped – he might be resting, too."

"We should move out before he decides to keep moving, then," Yamato said, standing.

Sakura kicked Naruto so that he would wake up, and the four of them headed toward their target once again.

They were home by the end of the day. The rogue ninja had been captured with Yamato's wood jutsu and they had transported him to Konoha.

They reported back to the Hokage and then all parted ways so that they could go home to rest.

"Sai, wait a minute!" Sakura called as they were leaving.

He turned and waited patiently for her to catch up to him.

She looked around them to make sure their conversation was somewhat private in the quiet street, then spoke quietly. "I want to talk to you."

Sai's brows knit together as they started walking down the road toward the area they both resided in. Sakura was already speaking to him, so he wondered why she was stating that she wanted to.

"Do you…" she started, but trailed off.

"Do I what?" Sai prompted, unsure of how to react to half of a question.

"Do you have feelings for Yamato-taichou?" she asked quickly, as though she might falter again if she didn't just get it out.

"That's the same thing as being attracted to someone, correct?" Sai asked. He wanted to be sure, so that he didn't miscommunicate something to his teammate.

"Well, yes," she replied.

"Yes, I have feelings for Yamato-taichou," Sai confirmed. "I have recently discovered that I am sexually attracted to him."

Sakura let out a small choking noise. "Oh," was all she could manage to say.

They walked in silence for a minute as Sakura tried to process what she had found out. Sai wondered if he should say something, but since Sakura was quiet, he assumed that he didn't need to. She had asked a question and he had answered.

"What are you going to do about it?" she asked eventually.

"Well, last night I –" he took a moment to recall the word " – masturbated while thinking of him. That seemed to help, for a short while."

Sakura stopped in her tracks, sputtering, her face red.

Sai immediately realised that he must have said something improper, and began to analyse his sentences to try to figure out where he had gone wrong.

"You can't just say things like that!" Sakura managed eventually in a hushed tone. "Especially not loudly in a public place! T… touching yourself is a private matter."

"My apologies, I will try to remember that," Sai said.

Sakura calmed down after a few moments and they resumed walking. She should have been used to such behaviour from Sai by now, but she couldn't help but be a little shocked by Sai's statement.

"That's not what I meant, though," she said. "I was asking more along the lines of… are you going to… tell him?"

"Should I?" Sai asked. "I haven't researched it yet. I don't know what to do besides…" Oh wait, apparently he couldn't talk about that loudly in public places. "I will need to find out more."

"A book can't really tell you what you want, Sai," Sakura said gently.

"I know what I want," Sai said plainly.

"What do you want?"

"I want to touch Yamato, and experience some things I have read about with him, such as kissing, and sex, and something called a blowjob–"

"Shh!" Sakura urged in a loud whisper. "These books should mention first and foremost that these activities are private!"

"I'm sorry," Sai said as they reached Sakura's house.

She turned to face him. "You want to experience those things with Yamato in particular?"

"Yes," Sai replied.

Sakura sighed. "Come inside," she said. "I'll give you the best advice I can, but it's probably better if we don't talk about this in public."

A few hours later, Sai left Sakura's house feeling… excited? Happy? He wasn't a hundred percent sure, but it was definitely a 'good' emotion. Sakura had been kind enough to help him sort through his unfamiliar emotions and decide how to proceed.

Sai didn't go straight to bed once he got home. Instead, he masturbated again because that had felt good the night before. This time, he was prepared for the mess and cleaned up quickly before going to sleep.

The next morning, he woke and went through his morning routine – some light training, a few quick sketches, a shower, breakfast – and then set out as the sun was rising, on his own personal mission for the day.

Sakura had explained that sometimes the object of ones desires (as she put it) did not share the feelings one had for them, and so Sai should be prepared for rejection. She had also, however, said that she had noticed that Yamato seemed gentler with Sai and she had often seen the older man watching Sai in a rather interested manner. She claimed that there was a good chance that Yamato shared Sai's interest, and encouraged the artist to declare his feelings for their captain.

Sai supposed he was prepared for rejection since he hadn't really thought that he would ever be able to touch Yamato in the way he fantasised. He had only recently started actually desiring things, anyway, so he didn't mind if he didn't get what he 'wanted'.

Upon arriving at Yamato's apartment, Sai knocked on the door and waited several minutes for the mokuton user to answer.

"I'm sorry," Sai said as soon as he saw Yamato. "It looks like I woke you."

"It's… it's fine," Yamato said, opening the door wider and rubbing at his face. "What is it, Sai?"

"I have come to ask you out on a date," Sai said, realising too late that he should have researched the best ways to ask someone out. It seemed like people were particularly complex when it came to romantic interactions.

'I… what?" Yamato asked, staring bleary-eyed at Sai and then at the ground.

"I am asking if you would like to go on a date, with me," Sai said, hoping that rephrasing the question would make it more clear to Yamato, who was obviously confused.

Yamato didn't reply, still looking a bit puzzled as he looked back up at Sai.

"I'm sorry if I'm confusing you. I'm trying to be as clear as possible here," Sai continued. "I am attracted to you and am interested in becoming romantically involved with you, Yamato-taichou."

Yamato let out a small laugh. "Sorry, Sai. I know what you're saying, I'm just… having trouble wrapping my head around it. I didn't think that you were interested in me that way."

"I am," Sai stated. "I understand that, in order to become romantically involved, this interest should be mutual. Are you interested, Yamato-taichou?"

Yamato finally looked up at Sai and said, "What did you have in mind?"

"What do you mean?" Sai asked, noticing that Yamato had not answered his question.

"For a date," Yamato clarified. "What do you want to do?"

"Um, dinner?" Sai replied. He hadn't actually planned it out, he just remembered his pink-haired teammate mentioning that this was a popular thing to do on a first date.

"Sure," Yamato replied. "Whenever it suits you."

"You're agreeing to go on a date with me?" Sai asked. People were often just so unclear about things, and while his teammates usually made an effort to be as literal as possible with him, Sai often found that they still were being too vague.

Yamato reached towards Sai, resting a hand on the boy's cheek. "Yes, Sai. I am agreeing to go on a date with you."

Sai was slightly surprised and perplexed by the way Yamato stroked his cheek but it didn't bother him. In fact, he sort of liked it. "Can we go this evening, then?"

Yamato smiled slightly. "Why not?" he said, more to himself than Sai. Then, before Sai thought it was actually a question directed at him, Yamato said, "Yes. This evening."