Chapter 10:

Ino had enjoyed their last couple of dates and was eager for more. It was pure coincidence running into him the other day when he went to get lunch and invited herself along. Sai didn't protest so that must have meant he was ok with it.

There had to be something more romantic they could do together.

"I know," Ino said to herself. "I'll make him lunch. Anyone can take you out to a fancy place for food, but love will blossom with the food you lovingly make yourself. They say the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I'll make him a bento lunch we can share together. That will be romantic. We haven't done that yet and this is my chance to show off my cooking stills. Time for me to show him what I can do."

Ino crafted their romantic lunch with more care than any meal she had made before. She used only the best ingredients and put her best effort into preparing them all. She made sure it looked cute by cutting the carrots into little heart shapes and the sandwiches into triangles. She even fashioned a plump little bear out of the rice omelet. Everything looked adorable and she knew everything tasted great.

It was time to show her work to Sai.

"Are you taking Ino out on any other dates?" Naruto asked Sai as they walked down the street.

"I don't know. I hadn't thought about it."

"Why not? Bored?"

"No. Just busy, I guess. Besides, she hasn't asked me out on any other dates, either."

"It's usually the guys who ask the girls."

Sai thought about his situation. "For me, it was Ino who asked me out. The first time."

"How about ramen?" asked Naruto. "You can take her out for a nice lunch at Ichiraku."

"But ramen is so simple for a date, don't you think? It's casual. We have it with friends all the time," said Sai. "I think Ino likes fancier stuff, like sushi or French cuisine. Girls like fancy things for dates, don't they?"

"Probably. But you're missing the beauty of it, Sai. The fact that it's casual means that you can express yourselves in a laidback situation. You can be yourselves more and bond."

"Bond, huh?"

Naruto nodded up and down. "If you can have a casual meal with somebody, you know you've connected on some level. Bonding over ramen means it's built to last."

"You don't say…"

"Trust me on this, Sai. If you can have a casual meal with somebody, it means you're connecting. You've already got the fancy stuff down. All you need now is something casual and you're all set. It means you can pretty much do anything and be in any situation with them. It's great."

Sai thought back to the meals he's shared with friends. "But Ino and I have already done casual dining."

"Yeah, as friends. And there were a bunch of other people around. Doing casual as a date is different."

"Is it really?"

"It might not feel different, but that's how you know you've connected. It won't feel awkward doing something casual. Plus, that takes the pressure off of doing something fancy."

"Yes, I suppose you're right," said Sai. "And it would be easier on my wallet."

"That's right. But don't tell her that."

"Why not? Wouldn't the girl like to know how much you're saving? I thought girls liked bargains. Ino and Sakura rush off to the store whenever they hear that word."

"Yeah…" Naruto said hesitantly. "But that's when they're the ones paying for it. Girls like it when guys do things for them and aren't being cheap. Makes them feel good. Important."

"How many fancy dates have you and Hinata been on together?"

"So far? Um…" Naruto thought about it a moment. "I'd say… At least two. Maybe four. Five? No, four."

Sai knew Naruto had been on more dates than that with Hinata. Already knowing what his answer might be, Sai asked anyway, "How many ramen dates have you been on?"

Naruto started counting on his fingers. "Um… Give me a minute." He took his time, trying to calculate in his head. "Um… Well, I'm not sure the exact number, but I'd say close to twenty or so."

"Twenty?"

"Maybe. It's hard to tell. Sometimes we stay there a while and order more ramen so it's hard to keep track. Last time we had five bowls before leaving."

"But definitely more ramen dates than fancy dates."

"Yeah."

"Hm." Sai had eaten ramen with Ino before but Naruto and Sakura were there as well, and that was before they did any dating. Would Ino think it was cheap of him to bring her on a ramen date? She seemed to enjoy herself before. Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea. He would keep it in mind if he ever wanted to take her out again.

"You could also cook for her. Hinata makes stuff for me all the time. She's really good."

"I thought girls were the ones who did the cooking for the guys. As you said, Hinata cooks for you."

"But I bet it would impress Ino if you cooked for her sometime."

Sai thought a moment. "I did read somewhere that girls liked guys who could cook for them."

"There you go."

"But I can't cook," Sai confessed.

"At all?"

"Well, not very well, all things considered."

"What's that mean?"

Sai tried to explain as they walked down the busy shopping district of the Leaf Village. Thankfully, they passed several restaurants so Sai was able to gather plenty of examples for things he had no clue how to make.

"I can make very basic stuff. Like sandwiches. Anyone can do that. I know how to grill fish because of my training. You know, foraging in the wilderness while on missions. That sort of thing. But cooking actual dishes… I have no idea."

Naruto gave him a quick pat on the back. "That's fine. I can't cook either. I can make instant ramen and that's about it. But it's nice to have a girl cook for you. Not only is it a free meal you didn't have to make yourself, but it's the girl's way of letting you know she cares about you."

"Oh?" Sai looked at him.

"Yeah. It's how girls express their feelings. They don't cook for people they don't like, after all. They took time to think of you and prepare a meal. It's pretty obvious."

"Then why didn't you realize Hinata liked you when she cooked things for you?"

Naruto frowned. "Can we not bring that up?"

"I'm just saying, she did cook for you a couple of times and Sakura never did that for either of us. Not that I would want her to. Her healthy food nearly killed me."

"Since you went and brought it up," Naruto said bitterly, "Hinata only cooked for me a couple of times in the past, and she also cooked for her teammates. Plus, she told me recently that she had cooked tons of stuff for me but was too nervous to give it to me, so how the hell was I supposed to know when I never saw it?"

Sai chuckled. "It's alright. I was just teasing."

"Yeah, you're good at that."

"Really?" Sai seemed surprised. He scanned Naruto's statement for sarcasm but couldn't detect any.

"Yeah. You seem to like teasing me. And Sakura."

"I read that it was a playful act one does around close friends. I'm pleased you think I'm good at it."

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, but sometimes it's annoying."

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's fine." Naruto thought of the possibility of Sai teasing Ino in an attempt to be playful and quickly added, "But word of advice: you might want to wait a while before teasing Ino. She might think you're trying to be mean to her."

"How long should I wait?"

"Long enough for her to get to know you better… And get a good running start first," Naruto added under his breath.

"Sai!" Ino came running up to him from a side street. "Hi, Sai!"

"Hi, Ino," he said with a smile.

Ino gleefully held up her carefully prepared bento. "I made us a lunch we can share if you're hungry," she sang.

Ino made him a lunch. After the conversation he just had with Naruto, Sai knew what this signified. He had thought about inviting Ino to lunch at Ichiraku's as Naruto suggested, but he knew turning down her lunch offer would be rude, especially after she put so much work into it. He didn't want to make her angry. He was also considering having lunch with Naruto but as soon as Ino offered him an alternative, Naruto chose to make himself scarce and zipped down another street before Sai could use him as an excuse.

"Alright," Sai told her, still smiling. "Let's eat together."

They walked to the park and Ino selected a wooden bench in the shade they could use. She laid everything out on the table, showing off everything she made. Sai sat next to her, looking at all the fruit, sandwiches, fish and rice. She clearly went to a lot of work for him.

Knowing that was pretty flattering. No one ever went to this much trouble for him. Naruto and Sakura were his friends and teammates but neither of them ever made him a lunch before. They were kind to him and there for him when it mattered, so it wasn't that they didn't care. He knew they cared about him.

If he was going to compare them, it was worth noting that Ino had been there for him when it mattered as well. She had been kind to him from the beginning.

Ino's treatment was different than theirs. He could trust both his teammates and Ino.

And yet…

What were his feelings towards her?

He felt close to her. Certainly, closer than they had been before. He considered her a good friend. A close friend. He liked spending time with her. She did make him smile and he didn't have to force it. The smile came naturally.

So his feelings were..?

What, exactly?

"Here you go," Ino told him, holding up the sandwiches. "Eat all you like."

Sai took a sandwich. "Thanks."

Ino watched him eat, studying his face. He wasn't spitting it out, but he wasn't saying anything either. "Well? Do you like it?"

It was a simple sandwich. There wasn't much she could screw up with it, but there wasn't much she could do to make it phenomenal either in his opinion.

"It's good."

"Really? I'm glad." Ino was blushing with what he assumed to be pride.

She was too nervous to eat at the moment so she just watched him politely eat the sandwich, looking at the scenery as he chewed. She glanced away every time he looked in her direction.

She wanted to do something more romantic. More lovey-dovey.

There was something she always wanted to do. It was worth a try.

Once Sai finished the sandwich, he looked around the table to see what else there was to munch on. Before he could reach for anything, Ino scooped up the rice omelet and tried to feed him some from the chopsticks she held.

"Here you go. Say 'ahh'," she told him, blushing.

He could easily feed himself. Why was she doing this? It would have made sense if his arm had been broken and needed help, like when Naruto broke his, but that wasn't the case. He didn't need help eating.

Then again, there were cases when people liked to be fed anyway, regardless of being crippled or not, finding it fun. Was it really fun being fed like this? There was only one way to find out. Besides, he wasn't sure what to do and didn't want to hurt her feelings.

Sai opened his mouth, complying.

Ino happily stuffed bits of omelet into his mouth.

"Well?" she asked him.

"Tasty," he told her, his cheeks stuff with egg and rice.

She started giggling. Not just from joy but from how cute Sai looked with his cheeks packed with her food. He looked like a chipmunk.

Seeing her laugh was infectious and Sai started laughing as well.

She fed him for a while, then Sai got the bright idea to return the favor. He wasn't sure of the social norm for this situation, but Sai thought it was only fair to do the same thing back to her. He also had to admit to a slight curiosity. He wanted to know why people did this sort of thing and if it really was as fun as Ino made it look.

Sai picked up another pair of chopsticks and tried to feed her some rice. Unused to feeding someone other than himself rice from this angle, he ending up dropping part of it onto her lap. He stared down at her legs, then leaned away timidly and apologized.

"It's ok," she told him.

Sai didn't seem willing to try again, but Ino liked the idea of him wanting to feed her, so she came up with a solution. She held the bento under her chin so if he dropped anything, it wouldn't land on her but in the bento.

"Ahh," she said, opening her mouth.

Sai's second attempt went a lot better. Ino happily chewed her rice, beaming.

Her face looked pretty funny, smiling with her lips tightly pressed together and chewing food at the same time. Sai couldn't help smiling, amused.

They fed each other fruit next and then Sai tried feeding her one of the sandwiches. All these attempts were successful.

Full and content, the two sat together for some time, smiling at one another.

"Thanks for the meal," said Sai. "It was really good."

"I'm glad you liked it."

"No one's ever made me a lunch before."

Ino raised her brow. "Not even Sakura?" She was a bit surprised. Then again, she rarely made food for her own teammates. She only did so when she either needed to or wanted to practice some new recipes and didn't care if she fed them disasters or successes. Besides, Choji gave her pretty good feedback when it came to her cooking skills.

Sai shook his head. "Sakura's only made food pills but they tasted terrible. They made me sick once. She tried putting too many things in it, I think. It tasted so bad I nearly threw up. Made my head spin."

Though food pills were different from actual food, Ino declared it a win in her column. It seemed she had succeeded at something Sakura failed at. Since there was no one around to refute that, she counted it as truth. Since she didn't want Sai to say anything hinting otherwise, she didn't ask for further details.

"I'd be happy to make you more lunches if you like," she told him before he could say anything else related to the other topic. She just wanted to bask in the glory of being better than Sakura at something. Food pills or an actual meal didn't matter to her. She wanted to count this as a win.

Sai smiled. "I'd like that," he told her. "Thanks, Beautiful."

Ino blushed. "You're welcome." She started fidgeting in the way she always did when she was happy and nervous at the same time. "I had fun eating with you."

"So did I. It was fun."

She blushed even harder. Could Sai be any cuter?

While she fidgeted and fantasized, Sai thought about the meal they shared and believed it was pretty fun. Even feeding each other was fun. Being fed and being the feeder. He still preferred to feed himself, but now he had a better understanding of why people liked to do that for each other.

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