"A date?" Shino asked me with a bit of disbelief.

It took a lot of self-force to not shake my hands because of how nervous I was. I looked at him straight in the eyes. My face felt as though it was on fire because of how much I was blushing. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would have stopped from over use.

"Yeah, I just thought you might want to go on one right now if you were free. You don't have to if you don't want to though, I completely understand if-"

"Okay."

I looked at him in amazement with a grin on my face. "So you do want to go on a date?"

"Yes, I do. Where do you want to go?" My eyes were wide with shock. "You look like you cannot believe I said yes."

My face went red again and I became a bit sheepish. "It's because I can't believe it. Let's go," I grabbed his arm and began to walk throughout the village.

I have to go with it and not over think it. Otherwise I will talk myself out of it. I thought with determination. I cannot let our limited time go to waste.

We began to walk through the village as we viewed the happy villagers. It was at that moment that I began to realize all the love in the air. Couples walked together with their hands held together. Their fingers were woven together and they looked happy.

I did not see love as something I had to search for, because I knew it was something that could have happened at any moment. When I looked at Shino I knew I risked rejection, but I knew that I also risked a limited time. I had no idea if my limited time was with Shino or someone else, but I knew I had to take a risk.

After we had found some food to eat and we were resting underneath a tree, Shino began to talk. "You seem very nervous." He said to me and I exhaled loudly to attempt to be calm.

"I am because I have something I really want to say." I explained to him and twiddled with my thumbs as my face was burning. When I took a deep a breath, I was able to calm down and think. My fingers stopped fumbling with each other and I looked at Shino. "I am sorry that I have been avoiding you. You probably want to know why," he gave me a nod in agreement so I continued. "It is because I really like you Shino. As soon as I realized I liked you, I didn't know what to do. When I was younger I did have some crushes, but they were really small compared to what I feel now."

The quietness that came from Shino scared me. Is he going to not want to talk to me again? I cannot handle him hating me because I let feelings like this enter the Shinobi world.

"Are you sure that you like me?" He inquired and I could sense something in his voice, but I was not able to tell what.

"Shino, I am pretty damn sure I like you. I know it is crazy because of my fear for bugs, but I really do like you Shino. I, I really can't explain why I do. Whenever I see you, I feel my stomach do flips because of how happy I am just to see you." I paused for a moment and looked at the ground. "I just wanted to confess to you while I still had the chance. It is understandable if you do not want to talk to me after this or you do not want to see me because of how selfish I am being at the mome-"

It was then that Shino cut me off in a bit of a rushed voice. "No, I like you too."

My breath was taken away by that one simple sentence. When I looked at him, I saw that he was looking right at me. My heart sped up and I felt a grateful smile form on my face.

"I am sorry because I have been the selfish one." He sighed and continued to explain. "Our last mission together with princess Eri, I wanted to go home early so we could spend the day together. I did not know when we would be able to have time to spend together and I worried that you would forget.

"I have liked you for a long time but have never been able to tell you until this moment. Over time I tried to try things to see if you would like me. I stuck a bug on your shoulder to see if you would like me and that did not go well.

"I tried to give you criticism about your outlook on life because I was worried it would get you in trouble someday. When you were betrayed by the enemy, I did not feel good about being right. You were frustrated with me again and had your beliefs hurt. I apologize for any and all pain that I have caused you because those gestures were not meant for that purpose."

I smiled lightly with a hopeful look on my face. "We are two pretty different people. I think that is something great about us though. We are able to even each other out."

Shino nodded his head and I saw a small smile on his face. "Over time I have seen how happy people have been with friends. You were the happiest person I knew so I thought if I was friends with you I would learn how to be happier. It never crossed my mind that I would fall for you until I began to."

"If it helps, I never thought I would be falling for bug boy." Cheerfully, I said in a playful manner. My head lifted and I looked him straight in the eye. "So you were only tough on me because of my outlook?"

He nodded and began to talk with a remorseful tone, "There were times when I knew I had to be rough on you because the Shinobi world can be a cruel place. Which was why I had forced myself to be okay with you being mad at me, I had hoped that if I had gotten into your head you would be more careful. That did not happen and you were even more determined to prove me wrong. You are a stubborn person who made me worry. I was then worried that you had a limited time in this world because of how trustworthy of strangers you were. I then wanted to spend time with you while I could, before it was too late to regret not doing so."

I was astonished at him and my jaw dropped. He is worried about limited time too? I pondered in amazement.

I shook my head from side to side and smiled gratefully. "It seems like both of us feel as though we are pressed for time." I then took a chance by reaching out to hold his hand. He extended his hand with a few bugs on it. I cringed and pulled my hand back a bit.

"You are still afraid of my bugs." Shino pointed out and I looked at him with determination in my eyes.

"I might dislike bugs and be scared of them, but that is not the case with you Shino. I can work on that. It will take time and a lot of patience though." I explained in an optimistic tone. The smile was still on my face.

Shino was in thought for a few moments before he talked again. "Despite the fact that we have a limited time, we should not rush things."

I nodded my head in agreement, "You're right, what if we tried a few dates first? We could start by counting this one."

"That is a good start." Shino extended his hand towards me with no bugs on it. Happily, I took ahold of it.

This will take some time, even if our time together is limited. We will make it work.

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So what did you guys think of the story? The last chapter will be the epilogue, which is the next one. I hope you guys have really liked this story so far. Do you think Shino has been in character? What do you think of Chika? Here is a better question, what did you think of Chika's mom? How are you on the path of life? Anything really interesting happen lately?

Have a wonderful day and smile. c: Farewell maties!