Ino was quick to return to work, brewing over ideas in the back of her head. Sai wasn't intentionally rude; he just seemed... unintentionally offensive. The kind of person who maybe needed a little bit of help to make sure he wasn't offending everyone around him. Ino thought she was the perfect person for that kind of thing; he seemed genuinely kind and helpful deep down.
As she was debating methods to go about that, Sai walked back in, much to her surprise.
"How'd your meeting with the Chief go?" Ino asked cheerily, standing from her desk to walk around it and greet him.
"The meeting was adequate," he responded. Adequate? That sounded... well, Ino wasn't sure how to put it. Granted, the fact that he had returned to her office had to mean something. Maybe not that he necessarily liked her -- it was far too early to get into something of that depth -- but if nothing, he must have appreciated her offer to give him a tour. That was a score in Ino's books.
"Well, that's... good. Anyway, you're staying for a bit, right? Why don't I keep up the little tour and show you around the city, too? I know a great place for some good local food." It was an innocent gesture, though it was the kind of thing Ino would refer to as a "pre-date date". In other words, she was gearing up for an actual date. In all seriousness, she was very interested in Sai, even just from a friendly perspective; he was a fresh face from the usual people she saw. The fact that he hit every little check-box on her ideal man list was just a bonus.
Part of her couldn't help but swoon. To think she and her best friend might both end up with tall, dark-haired, mysterious hotties; it was a dream come true if the blonde had ever thought of one. She was still mildly jealous of Sakura getting there first, even if she'd won fair and square. But if Sasuke decided otherwise, she might just have to swoop in for a piece of that.
"A meal consisting of a local cuisine would be an acceptable engagement. Your offer is sufficient. Would it be permissible to ask for a lift to this local culinary spot from you? I am without personal transportation for the moment until a few administrative things are reconciled." He was so... oddly formal, more than she would have expected from someone in his position. It contrasted with his earlier bluntness, that was for sure.
"Of course! I understand completely. I should be done here around six, so meet me here, and we can do that. I don't mind at all. I hope they get all your transportation figured out, though. Oh, if you need an office to work from, there's a meeting room you can set up in; just let Hinata know so she can book it for you to work. We don't use it too often, so you shouldn't be disturbed. I think we use it maybe once a week at most." And it was a good thing they didn't; it meant Ino could keep him nice and close and wouldn't have to come up with too many excuses to talk to him.
"A practical solution. I will utilize it promptly." He gave her a curt nod of thanks, turning back to speak to Hinata before disappearing into the room. Ino waited to hear the door shut before she broke into a silent victory dance, elated that she'd managed to succeed.
"Miss Yamanaka," a soft voice said from the door, "Is it really prudent for you to be pursuing Mr. Gaka so... vigorously?" Hinata looked mildly wary after having caught her boss—and friend—doing such a dance.
"Shh. No judging until you spine up and ask Uzumaki out," Ino scolded lightly, causing the dark-haired girl to blush profusely.
"I-I have no reason to ask him out!" She defended, her soft lavender eyes pleading with the blonde not to tease her. Too late; Hinata speaking up meant she'd opened that can of worms and had to clean it up.
"Oh yeah? Then why do you stare at him and sigh so longingly every time he passes by, huh? A boy like that is right up your alley. Just walk up and offer him some of your cinnamon buns. If you ask me, a guy like him, the way to his heart is definitely his stomach." Ino chuckled as the blush on Hinata's face continued to darken, and she attempted to hide in the long veil of dark hair she had.
"Y-you're ridiculous," Hinata stammered. "That's just a silly saying." Leave it to Hinata to be too shy to accept it.
"One of these days, you'll realize I'm a social goddess, Hinata. One day, little sunflower. One day." She gently ushered the girl back to her desk. "Hey, if you see Sakura, let her know I wanna chat, 'kay? I owe her something." She owed Sakura an apology for whatever Sai had said. She'd make sure to explain to him he needed to tread a little more carefully if he didn't want to end up on everyone's wrong side.
Ino quickly returned to organizing her documents for the case she had coming up on Monday, making sure she had every argument prepared and lined up. She went through memorizing details, quizzing herself, everything she could. She was in the middle of finishing up with it when she heard the sound of quick footsteps, the door opening, and a very out-of-breath pinkette standing in the doorway to her office.
"Sakura? You look like you just ran a mile. Who lit a fire under your ass?" She asked, deeply confused. Sakura generally wasn't in a rush like this; whatever it was, it had to be very important.
"You did!" She did? What in the world had she done? She couldn't recall anything. "Well--okay, no, Tenten kind of did, inadvertently. I just remembered, this weekend was the weekend we were supposed to go to the lake house, remember?" The more Sakura spoke, the more realization dawned on Ino. Shoot! They'd made those plans months ago, but between Sakura being shot and in the hospital, and the drama with her and Sasuke, they'd both forgotten about that weekend.
"Oh my god," Ino said as she rubbed her temples. "I forgot too. Damn it! And I asked tall, cute, and mysterious out on a dinner date this weekend, too, and then I have to prepare for that big case on Monday... oh, no. There's no way I can go out there this weekend." Unbelievable. She just hoped Sakura remembered their little silent pact; boys came first at this point. Sakura still owed her a girls' night anyway since there were still a few things they hadn't talked about just yet.
"You mean the one who insulted me earlier?" Oh, Ino could tell by Sakura's tone that she was deeply unimpressed. "Tall, annoying, and jerkass is more how I'd put it. But you know, you do you, Ino. Anyway... hey, maybe there's a way..." Ino caught the look in her friend's eyes, and the pieces started to fall into place. That would be perfect; Sakura could take Sasuke out there, and maybe if she stopped being such a chicken shit, she could make some kind of move. More of a move than what had already been made that is. Ino watched the look on Sakura's face transition from awareness to reluctance.
"Sakura, do it," she said. No way was she letting Sakura get out of this idea. Not in a million years.
"No, that's--I don't know if he would." Damn right he would, or he damned well better, Ino thought to herself. She'd kick Sasuke's ass herself if he refused!
"Do it," Ino goaded further.
"Ino--"
"Do. It. You. Little. Chicken. Shit. Cherry Blossom." As if she was letting Sakura get away with this. Not a chance. She wasn't going to let her friend back out. She would damn well ask Sasuke to go with Sakura herself if she had to make this work!
"Okay! I'll ask him!" Score! Her goading had worked as always. Most of the time, that was what Sakura needed; just a little push to get her to go through with something. She was too shy for her own good most of the time.
"Oh! It's going to be so romantic," Ino said as she swooned. The two of them were adorable together as far as she blonde was concerned. "And then we can have a girls' night next week, and we can totally gush about what happened." That would be easy enough for them to schedule. "Besides," Ino continued, "you still owe me girl talk about what Sasuke was up to when he was acting all weird. You said things went amazing, but you never told me the details." Details that she'd been waiting on for quite a while now; Sakura had just squealed to her that Sasuke had kissed her, then that he was acting weird the entire next day. She wanted details! Information! All of it!
"Next week. One hundred percent. Promise," Sakura stated. "We will have a girls' night with popcorn and bad movies, and we can gush all about it. Promise. Cross my heart." Sakura had started backing out of her office, but Ino was about to push her out the door if she didn't go right away; any longer, and she'd go back to chickening out.
"Go! Go ask him!" Ino pushed. "Go have fun!" A thought crossed her mind, and she smirked wickedly. "Bring protection!" She called at her friend's retreating back.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, you lech," she heard Sakura call, which caused her to break into laughter. Sakura was such a prude sometimes. It was cute, but it was going to bite her in the ass one day. For the time being, Ino would just have to settle for teasing her every moment she could.
Still giggling, she returned to going through her notes, doing the last bit of preparation for the day before she heard another knock at her office door. It was Hinata, coming in to check on her; there was a cup of coffee in her hand.
"I'm heading home for the day," she said softly. "I brought you a coffee. Don't stay too late, okay?" Hinata's face was always filled with worry; shy as she was, she was the motherly type and always looked out for Ino. Despite being her boss, Ino saw her as a very close friend.
"I won't be here too late. Don't worry. I have a hot date tonight," Ino said with a chuckle.
"A-a date?" Ino could tell she was pondering that. "Does it really count as a date..?"
"Oh, Hinata," Ino said with a laugh. "You're so innocent. It's kind of a date. It's what I'd call a pre-date, so spending time together without it actually being a date. Not an official one, anyway. Look, it's close enough, all right?" Damn it; she just wanted to think of it like that. Nothing more, nothing less. It was the closest she'd had in a very long time, and she wasn't about to pass it up!
"Okay then," Hinata replied, still appearing confused. "I'll... leave you to it." With that, the soft-spoken girl shut the door and left Ino to attempt to work on her case. It was difficult, given she was distracted by thoughts of her upcoming date.