AN: The third chapter! Woohoo! I have nothing more to say, so...

A few days later Shikamaru had to admit that Kiba's idea was sounding better by the minute. Watching Ino flirt with that…that thing was sickening and pretty humiliating. Especially as people gave him sly little sympathetic glances every time it happened. The lazy boy assumed Kiba had told everybody about how he felt about Ino. What he didn't know was how obvious it was to everyone.
Sakura was (not really) listening to Ino jabber on about Sai. She really felt very sorry for Shikamaru. Now that she thought about it more, Ino and Shikamaru were the perfect couple. Ino could motivate the lazy boy, and Shikamaru would always listen to Ino's complaints and commands. It would be too troublesome to do otherwise.

Sakura jerked out of her reverie when she heard her name being said. Ino was looking at her expectantly. "Um…" sweat beaded Sakura's forehead, "Yes?"

Ino's face turned confused, then annoyed. "I asked how you and Sasuke were. Why weren't you listening?"

"I was just thinking about Shikamaru."

"What? Why?" Ino said possessively.

"Well, I was thinking of what a good couple you'd make… You'd be perfect for each other…"

Ino choked and went scarlet. "W-what?! That's ridiculous!"

Sakura shook her head. "Not really." She stood up and stretched. "Shouldn't we be going to class now? You have Math, right?"

Ino nodded stiffly, and walked away.

Sakura giggled discreetly behind her hand. Ino was so easy to read. She had a thing for Shikamaru, that much was obvious. But what about her strange obsession with Sai? What was that all about? Then Sakura had a thought. Maybe Ino was deluding herself into thinking she had a crush on Sai instead of Shikamaru. But why though? She knew for a fact that Shikamaru loved her. Ino was one strange girl.

In class, sitting behind Sakura, Shikamaru and Kiba were having a whispered conversation. Sakura couldn't hear them properly, but she caught words like "plan", "stupid" and "Sai". After hearing this last word, she tried to lean back to hear more, but Shikamaru stopped her by saying "Kiba, shut up. Sakura's trying to eavesdrop."

Sakura frowned and grunted. She turned around to face the two boys and said "I know you've got a plan, which has something to do with Sai. So I'm assuming it's to do with Ino as well."

Shikamaru crossed his arms. "And why would you assume that?"

"I may not be a genius like you, Shikamaru, but I'm not an idiot like Kiba either."

Kiba huffed, and Shikamaru decided it wouldn't matter if he told Sakura Kiba's 'brilliant' plan. "Kiba thinks that if I start to act more like Sai, Ino'll have a crush on me, instead of the real Sai."

Sakura thought about it for a couple of seconds, biting her lip. "Kiba, I may have to take back what I said about you being an idiot, 'cause that plan's GENIUS!"

Kiba flushed with pride while Shikamaru pulled his hand down his face. "It's not genius. It's insane."

Sakura just glared at Shikamaru, who put up his hands in a placating gesture. "Alright, alright. Fine. What makes his plan so good?"

Sakura waved her hand dismissively. "Never mind. It doesn't matter. Just be sure that it is."

"See, Shikamaru? What did I tell you?" Kiba said triumphantly.

"Pfft. Fine then. This plan'll go on. But Sakura'll need to help, I don't trust you to do it right."

"I'll be happy to help. Trust me Shikamaru. I know what I'm doing."

Ino walked quickly into the classroom and accidentally knocked someone's books over. She muttered a quick "Sorry" and stooped down to pick them up. Straightening, she came face to face with Sai. Ino felt a blush slowly creeping up her face as she quickly began to stutter "Sorry Sai! I-it was…y'know…a-an accident! I'm really sorry!"

Sai chuckled and Ino felt his warm (and minty fresh, just as she expected it to be) breath wash over her face. She sighed dreamily. "It's okay. I know it was only an accident."

She flushed and coughed, standing up to go to her seat.

"Hey. Ino." She turned to look at him. He was smiling warmly at her. "Look, I heard that you've a bit of a crush on me…"

Ino's eyes widened in embarrassment and she groaned "Oh God…"

"Oh, no! It's nothing bad! I was just wondering if it was true."

Ino nodded and said faintly "Yes, it's true."

Sai grinned wider. "That's great! Do you want to go on a date sometime next week?"

AN: OoOoOoOo... Sai (with his minty fresh breath) and Ino are going on a date! I don't consider that a spoiler, since you all knew she was going to say yes anyway. Right?

But, we have Sakura to save the day! Go Sakura!

Oh... I have a question to ask everyone! If I wrote a fanfic set in Scotland (like in Glasgow, or something) would you all still read it? Of course it'll be ShikaIno. I mean, what else would I write? xD So, would you still read it? 'Cause I find it easier writing that particular fic if it's set in Britain. And of course, I'll explain all the British-isms in it. Please let me know in your review. That's one more reason to review!

So, please, review. It makes me so happy.