A/N: That was a unexpected canon. I have always liked this pairing, but I hadn't really thought it was possible, lol.

Menie & levi97100: Thank you very much, there you go: a brand new chapter. I don't think I can keep up this one chapter/day rhythm, though.

Pink blossom tree: Yes, it is a mix. It's a lot of one-shots about everyone, their families and relationships that are set in the same universe, but not linearly. That chapter, for example, is set before the first. I hope you like it.

Fier66: That's good to hear. I hope you appreciate this chapter as well.

Here we go, a bit of Ino/Sai for you guys.

Chapter 2: So this is how love feels like

"You're gonna marry him? Really?" Sai asked, shocked.

"Well, he still didn't ask my father, so we didn't set the date yet, but yes." Hinata answered, blushing a little.

"That is, supposing that Hisashi-san won't cut my head off." Naruto added, half serious.

"Stop it, my father likes you. Everyone on village does."

"Why?" Asked Sai again. "Won't get bored with him around all the time? Actually, why do people get married?"

"Well, I could explain to you, but that is related with feelings so you wouldn't get it anyway." Sakura said, smiling a bit.

They were all there, reunited at a Yakiniku restaurant: Tenten, Lee, Chouji, Shikamaru, Ino and Sai at one side of the table and Naruto, Hinata, Sakura, Sasuke, Shino and Kiba at the other.

"Marriage certainly is troublesome. I have to agree with Sai this time." Shikamaru stated.

"It's not." Said Sasuke simply, speaking for the first time since they got there.

"Tch. What are you saying, teme? That you would like to get married?" Mocked Naruto.

Sasuke shrugged. "I guess." He drank a bit of his sake then turned his head to Sakura. "Would like to?"

"Would I like... What?"

"Get married."

"Like... Marrying you?"

"That means no?"

"No! I mean, yes! I mean... I would like to get married."

"Good." Sasuke spoke.

Hinata was the first one to recover from the shock.

"Oh, my God! Congratulations! I guess that means we will both be summer brides, Sakura." She said with a smile.

"That was a terrible proposal, Sasuke. I made Hinata faint with mine." Naruto teased.

"Big deal!" Mocked Kiba. "Hinata used to faint by hearing your name!"

"Kiba-kun, shut up!" Hinata complained, blushing furiously as she hid her face on Naruto's shoulder.

Sai were completely confused. Now Hinata and Sasuke were nuts? He already knew that Naruto and Sakura had problems, but...

In the middle of his wondering, Sai noticed that Ino didn't look happy at all. When she poured herself a double dose of sake, he knew that she wasn't happy.

"I told you, I'm fine! I am perfectly capable of going home alone!" Ino objected as Sai walked her home. Even if her vision were blurry and if she couldn't walk straight, she was sure she could make it.

"Well, I don't care if you can go home alone or not. It's funny watch you like that." Sai answered honestly.

Ino growled and tried to walk faster and that caused her to trip. Sai managed to hold her before she fell.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Uh-uh." She answered, feeling dizzy.

Sai guided her to a guardrail nearby and sat her down there.

"Here, I have some water." He handed Ino a bottle of cold water.

"Why do you have it?" The blond asked. "It still cold, you bought on the restaurant?"

"I read somewhere that drunk people need water." Sai answered, shrugging. "I thought you might need so I bought it."

"Thank you. I didn't know you could be gentle." She mumbled.

Sai sat down beside her. "Are you sad because Sasuke and Sakura are getting married?" He asked directly.

Ino sighed. "Yeah, you're not that gentle." She sighed again. "It's not that. It's just... Sasuke-kun and Sakura, Naruto and Hinata, Shikamaru and Temari, I think that even Choji got himself a girlfriend! Everything is working out for all of them and I still here, running in circles: I'm the only one who hasn't a relationship."

"I haven't one too."

"You... Don't have a heart."

Sai frowned. "I do have. Look, here." He grabbed Ino's hand and place it over his heart.

Weird enough, that made both of than feel awkward. Ino looked away, with her face burning red and Sai felt like the place had become oddly hot. Oddly good.

"You're heart is beating really fast." She pointed.

Sai shrugged. "Lately, that happens a lot when I'm with you."

Ino stared at him, shocked. "Huh?"

"Yeah, I think it's weird too. My heart beats faster, my fingertips tingle and I find getting away from you extremely painful. Do you think I should go to the hospital? I think I might be allergic to girls."

Ino blinked, suddenly sobering up. "Does any other girl… do the same things to you?"

"No, it's just you." Sai realized.

"You don't even realize you just made a super confession, right?" She said with smile.

It was Sai who were shocked now. "Did I? I see… So this feeling it's the so called romantic love. I get it now: that's why your face were always on my mind on weird moments!"

"What kind of weird moments?" The blond laughed.

"Well.. When I shower, sometimes I get…"

"Okay, okay, stop it! I don't need to know, in the end."

"Bijin-san, do you… love me back?" He asked simply.

Ino sighed. Gee, that guy were so not-romantic, not a gentleman, tactless… There would be no way that they could be the lovey-dovey couple that she had dreamed of. Even so, when he asked that to her - so frankly, so straightforward -, she had no doubts when answered:

"Yeah. I do."

"Alright then. Should I propose to you now?"

"No." She laughed. "You should ask me to be your girlfriend first, then we go out and if this works out, and if you feel like it, you propose."

Sai placed his index finger on his chin. "Hm… How should I know that this worked out and I feel like it?"

"Well, you have to feel, in your heart, that you love me so much that you'll want to be with me forever."

"If we get married, it will mean that I would get to see you everyday and get more of this cozy warmth I get when I'm beside you?" He asked bluntly.

Ino blushed. Geez, that guy… Such a unconscious flirt.

"Yeah, it does."

"I see. So, let's do that. Let's get married."

Ino sighed. "I told you already. It's not like that."

"So what happens now?"

Ino realized that she still had her hand placed over his accelerated heart.

"Just… don't move." She told him.

After saying that, the kunoichi leaned closer to him and snuggled up against his chest, placing her ear where her hand was before. Ino listened to the nice sound of his heartbeats and thought that it was like a lullaby. She felt like she could fall asleep right there.

"Bijin-san…" Started him.

"Just 'Ino' it's fine." She interrupted.

"Ino," Sai corrected "I feel… weird. I want to pull you closer, but that's not even physically possible!"

Ino rolled her eyes and smiled gently. "Put your arms around me, that must do."

Sai wrapped her on his arms, hugging a bit too tight, but Ino didn't care. She felt so very protected and fulfilled there that it was like he was made for hugging her, and she was made for being in his arms. She chuckled.

"You know what? I want to be a summer bride too… Let's get married."

She looked up to him and, for her surprise and delight, he was blushing. For the first time, she was seeing some color on his pale face.

"You mean it?" He asked with a unusual low voice.

"I do."

"Thank you." Sai said, offering her a smile that took her breath away.

"I-idiot. That's not what you were supposed to say."

"It's just that… I feel so happy, that's why I thought I should thank you."

"Oh, there you go again. Stop it, you smooth-talker!" She complained blushing hard and punching his chest lightly.

Sai took a deep breath. "Ino, I always read on books that, when two people agree to get married, they should k-kiss."

Ino looked away again. "Oh, that's okay. You don't have to do it now if you don't want it."

Sai held her face between his hands, forcing her to look at him. "I do want to do it. May I?"

"Y-yes."

And there, under the pale moonlight, sitting on a guardrail with his lips touching hers for the very first time, Sai understood why would people get married.