-- Bloom Again --

"When a plant starts to rot,we need to cut away the diseased part. Even if they are the roots, "

-----------

Sai could still remember the day he first met Shin.

The day he made a friend who would one day become his brother.

It was a Sunday evening, and all the kids from the orphanage were running all around the playground, but not one particular boy. Not Sai.

7 year old Sai instead was on a nearby park bench, drawing profusely of the sight infront of him-a caterpillar chewing through a leaf . He was so focused on drawing he didn't realise someone was watching him.

"That caterpillar will be ready for metamorphosis soon " A voice spoke out,breaking Sai's focus. Sai's curious onyx eyes trailed towards the source of the voice,and a grey haired boy wearing nothing but a simple yellow T-shirt and brown pants who was probably a few years older stood before him. Sai blinked.

"Metamorphosis?" Sai repeated

"The prosess of a caterpillar turning into a chrysalis."The boy explained and Sai blinked blankly once more

"Oh"

"What's your name?"

"What's a name?"

"You...really don't know?"The mysterious boy asked unsurely,and Sai nod his head.

"Name is something people call you with," That boy explained

"Oh,in that case I have none,"

The boy frowned. How can one have no name? "None?How's that possible?"

"I'm not sure but the mean Onee-san has always been referring to me as 'Boy' since I first came here,"

The boy in front of him gave him a sympathy smile and offered him his hand "Oh,well my name's Shin,"

Sai look towards the hand and he puts his notebook and pencil down. He raises his right hand rather unsurely and met the other boy's hand halfway.

"Nice to meet you, Shin."

Shin's sympathy smile fade and a real genuine smile appeared. Both didn't notice how the caterpillar had stopped eating and was now spinning a chrysalis made from silk for itself.

::

It was a week later when little Sai was adopted by an old man named Danzo. It wasn't just Sai who was adopted, there were plenty of other kids who were adopted too. The other kids nor the staff of the orphanage didn't question it-they were probably glad the kids are out of their hands-but Sai did wonder.

Was this old man really looking for this many kids to raise?

Sai got his question answered two days later. Yes, Danzo was looking for kids to be raise. But he wasn't raising them for the sake of his village, he was raising them for his own sake, his own manipulative obedient soldier- a pawn. To be used and discarded whenever he wanted to.

Sai in particular didn't had any thoughts about being a pawn. Afterall, to him ninjas are also pawns to their village. What's the difference with this right ?

And so throughout the week, Sai willingly face the tough training that has been set by Danzo himself. All the kids were required to wear dark uniform, spoke only when required and must mask their emotions. It wasn't after one particular session, that Danzo suddenly broke the kids from their groups to their own personal seniors/Trainers.

"It's you, the caterpillar boy at the park, " The mask guy that was assigned to Sai spoke, and Sai blinked, confused yet curious.

The mask guy remove his mask and Sai blinked in recognition "I'm Shin, do you remember me? "

Sai nod once.

"Hm, you're more quiet than I remember. "Shin said, and the silence continues between them. The sounds of crickets nearby can be heard

"What happen to your sketchbook ?" Shin asked, he wanted Sai to talk and to be normal around him. It wasn't long for the bait to be eaten.

"It has been kept away. "

"Why? "

"Danzo-sama requires me at my full potential and to draw is a distraction and a waste of time, "Sai recites as if it was the most obvious thing in the world

Shin grimaced and Sai is once again confuse. Is it a bad thing that he's not distracted?

"Is it a bad thing? " Sai questions the grey haired boy

Shin sighs and suddenly chose to sat on the grass. Sai who was watching him curiously, followed and now they were sat side by side.

"Life in ROOT isn't easy . As you grow you shouldn't loose a part of yourself, it's your identity. The other day at the park, I noticed that drawing is your passion and it makes you,you. When you draw, its like everything else doesn't matter. Don't let anyone take that away from you. Throughout my years in ROOT, I've seen how lots of men took this growth for granted and in return, they lost themselves. They dont even know who they are anymore, " Shin say,his face in an expression Sai dont recognize.

"I don't know myself too, "Sai quietly admitted but Shin had heard it.

"Yes, but you still have so many things to discover about yourself. Take your time . Don't rush it and certainly dont let ROOT take away your identity."

"Does this mean you're a traitor to ROOT and I'll have to report this to Danzo-sama? "

Shin showed no sign of tensing up at Sai's qurstions. "I'll leave that for you to decide. Now,get some rest and tommorow meet me here at 0500," Shin stood up and in a flash, he was gone.

Sai stare at his hands. Maybe Shin was right. Maybe it's time for him to start drawing again.

::

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly."

::

"Again, "

Sai throws out one of his fist towards Shin,and Shin ducks underneath. Sai move quickly, hooking his leg behind Shin's to pull back and gain the upperhand, but Shin jump away. Sai did not waste any time and ran towards Shin with his fist ready. But, Shin was his trainer for a reason and caught his fist with ease.

"Harder." Shin said before letting Sai's fist go and took his defensive stance once more.

Sai lunged towards Shin,swinging but missed. His hands were aching to reach out for the kunai behind his back but he had to keep his word. He gave Shin his word that he would not use any weapon in this spar.

"You're not doing your best. Come on, harder! " Shin provokes the boy waiting for him to do what all new recruits will eventually do. It didn't took more than 15 minutes for Sai to do what he wanted.

"Are you really this weak? " Shin sneers and Sai snapped.

"I am trying,"Sai finally growls in anger. His breathing is ragged and he has scored himself a couple of bruises along with some lacerations all over his body but Shin was still left untouched; Not even a strand of his hair is messy. And it frustrates him.

"You took quite some time."Shin states before relaxing his posture.

Sai raises his eyebrow in confusion.

"It's pretty good that you last more than 10 minutes, but it's not good enough. As a ROOT operative you must remain emotionless, meaning you must not be easily provoked like that. You will need to learn how to control your emotions. " You will have to be the best of the best especially infront of Danzo-sama, was left unsaid

"Your emotions can one day be the cause of your downfall whether by death during a mission or failure to complete the mission. " Shin's words continue to rang in his head throughout the rest of the day, reminding him over and over again.

Sai nods. At that moment he finally understood what message Shin was delivering to him. He gripped his fists one last time before letting it all relaxed, and no more emotion was plastered on that face of his-not even a sign of exhaustion.

Neither notice the blue butterfly nearby flapping its wings nearby,intending to pollinate on nearby plants.

::

Years passed, and as Sai stood opposite Shin with bruises , blood dripping from his forehead and a possibility of his lung being punctured considering how hard it is to breath, he wonders if his 7 year old self had truly been so dumb. So dumb to see that all these years, Shin was dying.

"Shin, why? " Sai managed to mutter, his eyes wide and horrified at the situation before him. Shin coughs and blood spills out of his mouth dripping onto the dirt.

Shin wipes away the remaining drip of blood on his chin and manages to maneuver himself so he could lie back against the tree trunk. "Your friend- she calls you Sai. Is that your new name now? "He manages to wheezes out the question from his burning throat.

"You- but why? You could have avoided that hit!"Sai was screaming now. He didn't care that there might be nearby ROOT operatives. What matters now is Shin. His brother.

"I've overstayed my welcome in ROOT-"Shin pauses and wheeze once more, "You weren't supposed to find out about it like this. I wanted to go in peace, but not before securing your position in ROOT . If you had fail today's test, Danzo-sama would have.... " Shin trailed off unsurely and Sai understood what was left unsaid.

Bad memories of recruits who did fail the test came to his mind.

They had mysteriously disappeared 2 hours after they failed the test. He didn't want to think about what had happened to them in between those two hours.

He didn't want Sai to go missing.

He didn't want his little brother to be apart of those who was declared MIA

He love Sai, and he'd be damned to loose Sai (who he had learn to grow love for like his own little brother throughout the years) to an old man who was looking for pawns to use.

"Sai,I'm running out of time, please tell them you kill me. And remember, no matter what, always keep your emotions in check. Only reveal it to those who you can trust. "

Sai kneeled down to Shin's height, his hands reaching out to Shin. "Shin, you can't. I-I draw both of us in my sketchbook. You need to see it, it's not done yet. "

Sai's emotionless facade was far from returning. He was desperate and his body was shaking, with anger ,sadness or fear,or maybe all of them but he himself couldn't tell. His brother is dying from the blow of his jutsu and a disease, what was he supposed to feel?

"Sai, I already saw those drawings of yours when you left it in the woods. I kept it with me all those time. "Shin pauses to wheeze and more blood spills. It was a horrfying sight. "I kept it in my drawer. Take it and finish drawing for me,please?"

Shin offers Sai the best smile he could muster "Sai, I'm happy that you got yourself a name. I like that name. Take care of yourself for me,"

Shin stare at the boy holding his shoulder. Behind him, stood a similar looking boy, a couple of years younger, pouting ,and the scene changes to a younger Sai pulling Shin to the garden to draw a blue butterfly. Shin's smile grew even wider

And the world around Shin fades to black.

::

Sakura was at home when she felt Sai's chakra pulsing weakly at her front door. From his chakra, she assumed he just returned from a spar and required some simple healing. She had always been the person he would go to when he needed healing since the time he found out she could heal. But to Sakura's suprise, Sai wasn't alone.

An older unconscious male was being carried by Sai.

"Sakura, please help him." Sai wheeze out, his eyes are wide with panic, and he has bruises and scratches all over himself.

Sakura quickly ushers Sai to put Shin on the couch. Sakura took her kunai from her pouch and slice through the middle of Shin's bloodied ROOT outfit. Underneath, it wasn't a pretty sight. Shin was loosing blood pretty fast.

Sakura quickly grab a clean towel from a nearby drawer and applied direct pressure on the wound.Meanwhile, her brain immediately listed down all the things she would need.

Clean towels

Water bath

Needles

Threads

Scalpels

Disinfectant

"Sai, I need you to get-" A loud thump was heard ,and Sakura's eyes widen. "Sai!"

It was too late because Sai too had gone unconscious and now she has two patients to take care of. Sakura sighs, this will be a long night for her.

But on the bright side, at least her parents wasn't going to be home for the next- Sakura's emerald green eyes widen in realisation - two days. Sakura curses inwardly while eyeing Sai's unconscious figure. Where else can she put her two recent patient without ROOT noticing them?

::

"Hey Naruto, thanks alot. " Sakura bowed once more to the blonde haired boy, and his cheeks redden, flustered .

Miri, the landlord for Naruto's apartment had offered her an old empty apartment beside Naruto's and Sakura waste no time to accept that offer. Only one of the four glass windows remain,wavy but yellow. The house has no electricity but the fireplace and plumbing still works;something that Sakura is already more than thankful for. A place in the red district area is ideal as it's probably the last place Danzo would check.

"N-no problem, Sakura-chan! It was Miri-san who offers you the apartment next door to mine. "Naruto smile and for a moment Sakura felt that everything would be okay if she just stare into Naruto's very blue eyes.
Sakura mentally shook her head, she had 'patients' to be taken care of.

"Naruto, you need to keep their presence a secret okay? You can't tell anyone. " Sakura whispered and Naruto nods eagerly mumbling that he promise to do exactly that.

Sakura smiled,ruffles the blonde's hair and quickly said her goodbyes to Naruto before entering the small studio apartment again. She moves quickly to her first patient. Her hands glowed green checking for any abnormalities in his body. Other than his punctured lungs which took her longer time to fix since her chakra storage is still small, everything else was okay and Sai would be waking up any time from now.

She then proceed to check her second patient who was in a much more complicated situation than her first patient. He was suffering from a disease that doesn't have a cure yet-he was suffering from a curable disease two years too early.

Sakura sympathize for him. Sai must have been so desperate that he had brought this boy-Shin, to his last resort. Sakura was then brought out from her thoughts when one of her patients groaned in discomfort. It was Sai.

"Sakura..? " He mumbled as he tried to sat up, but Sakura was quick on her feet to push him back down.

"Sai, you need more rest." She said as she gently pushes his body back

But Sai's body was tense and his eyes were frantic looking for someone. "Shin, my brother....Is he okay?"

"He's stable now. " Sakura replied

Sai let out a sigh of relief but his body was still tense. He knew there was something else Sakura hadn't told him. And judging from Sakura's expression, it wasn't good news.

"It's true that Shin is stable,but he is also suffering from a disease that currently has no cure. "

And there it was. The bad news. Sakura could pratically see Sai's heart being broken right infront of her.

"Is there nothing you can do? "

"I'm finding for a solution.I won't let your brother down. I promise,Sai." Sakura promises and Sai look a little taken aback but it soon fades to relief

"For now,Sai I need you to go back to ROOT once you are healed enough. They will find it suspicious if you don't return." Sakura straighten her wrinkled shirt as she says this

"Sakura, Shin told me they already know. Danzo-sama knows that I've made new friends. If I go back there, you will be at risked."Sai replied weakly

"Don't worry, Sai,our plan must go on. I'll be okay."

::

"Ah, welcome back. I expected your arrival two days ago. I assumed Shin has been eradicated? " Danzo's gruff voice echoed throughout the underground base

"Yes, the target was obliterated and the training is now complete, " Sai states with no hint of emotion on his face

"Very well, you are dismissed. "

Sai bowed one more to Danzo before flashing out of the room. Only when he was free from any scrutinizing gaze ,he clenched his fist so tight it was turning white. Sakura was right all along. Danzo is keen on keeping his King piece in chess.

But Danzo seems to forget that there are times in chess, a well-placed pawn is more powerful than a king .

-To be continued -

So, Shin's still alive,for now at least :D Yay or nay?

Sakura still have to come up for a solution for Shin. Any ideas on what could they possible be?

The quote for this chapter comes from a fanfic on Fanfiction.net .I forgot it's name but the plot is Sakura has an older future version of Itachi as a part of her soul and she basically saw Sasuke as her little brother as she would often find herself tempted to call him otouto. It's really an amazing fic,so if anyone of you recognise this fic, comment the title , and I'll edit it in here.

Update:The title of the fanfic on Fanfiction.net is called "Ghosts In her Heart"