He closed the door behind him and started walking down the corridor when he noticed another familiar blond sitting on a bench.

"What are you doing here?" he blurted out; having temporarily forgotten that they were supposed to be on a date.

"It was taking you a long time, so I figured I'd drop by to see why." she answered getting up.

"Ah well, I just wanted to check on her." he said nervously scratching the back of his head. "Eum, about the date-"

"It's fine." She said calmly standing in front of him. "I realized that you really weren't my type in the end."

"Huh?"

"There's really no point in me trying to chase after you when you are so hopelessly in love with her. I should have given up a while ago, but I kept hoping that maybe you would give up. The last mission made me realize that it was never going to happen; I'm sorry for behaving so recklessly. Well, I'll be going now; good luck!"

And without another word she turned around and walked away; leaving him standing dumbfounded in the corridor wondering what had just happened. He shook his head and decided to try talking to Ino again; he just couldn't leave things the way they were now! He turned back around and entered her bedroom again; only to find it empty.

His heart stopped for a fraction of a second until he realized that the window was opened. With a smile he made for the window and hopped outside to the roof where, as he had expected, a blond kunoichi was sitting, staring at the stars. Without waiting for her acknowledgment he sat down beside her, she turned around with a startled; she had not been expecting company. It was then that he notice her tear stained face and cursed himself for making her cry yet again.

"What are you doing here?" she asked pointedly.

Still unable to find the right words he only gave her a small shrug as a response.

"God! You are so frustrating!" She yelled getting up.

Without thinking he grabbed her wrist and pulled her down on her lap; he would not let her escape this time. "Wait." he whispered in her ear. He took a deep breath and prepared himself for perhaps what would be the most embarrassing speech of his life. "I always thought you were the one out of my league." he started. "I think you are the most gorgeous woman I have ever met, and I've thought so for a very long time. And let's say that maybe you're not officially a Jounin yet; but everyone knows that the kind of work you do at the Intel department is of Jounin level. And don't ever call yourself stupid; I don't care if you don't understand Shogi, I like teaching you." he marked a paused and waited to see if she would say anything, but she kept her head buried in his chest. He started rubbing her hair and continued: " I kissed you that day because I felt like it, but then I realized that you may hate me for it and I started to resent myself. I'm the reason why you got injured in that battle, and I figured that I had lost all my chances with you; thus the reason why I figured I might as well go out with Temari..."

"I've been in love with you for more than half my life; you think I would get mad at you for something so ridiculous..." she whispered still buried in his chest. "You're not much of a genius are you?" she said with a chuckle before lifting her head. The tears were gone and instead a smile graced her beautiful face.

"I guess I'm not." he answered with a smile. He tightened his hold around her and kissed her forehead. "Say Ino; will you go out on a date with me?" he asked with a smile.