Wow! I didn't expect to get any reviews, let alone multiple ones already? Thank you so much! I'm so glad people are enjoying my writing. :)

I mentioned I'd post the link to my tumblr at the end of part I and I did! But it doesn't show up for some reason. Hm. Well, if I can't post the link, I can just give you my username (tappity-tap) and you can fill in the rest of the url. lol Please do visit and reblog if you like this story!

While part I was hardcore sexytimes, part II is fluffy pillow talk. Enjoy!

Ino rested her forehead against his, gasping for breath and trying to force her erratic heartbeat to return to normal. With her body pressed as tightly as it was to his, she could feel Sai's heartbeat and breathing had already slowed to their regular pace. She was not as skilled at composing herself after strenuous activity so it took significantly more time. Yet as always, without a word of complaint, he leisurely combed his fingers through the tangles of hair blanketing her back as he waited for her to attain that same calm.

"God, that was good, Sai. That was really good." she finally murmured, unable to help the euphoric grin that blossomed onto her face.

Below her, Sai hummed lethargically in agreement. His eyelids slowly lowered and he sighed, head lolling slightly to the right. It was a rarity to see him let on just how exhausted he was and Ino had a sneaking suspicion she was one of the privileged few (if not the only one) he allowed to witness such a sight.

Sitting up, Ino laughed and gently brushed his bangs off his sweaty forehead. "What, was it too much for you?" she teased, though truthfully it was taking all her strength not to just collapse on top of him and let sleep overtake them both for the next year or two.

Sai cracked one eye back open to watch her climb off of him. Wordlessly, he stretched out his arm so she could rest her head on his shoulder and did not answer until he had drawn her in snug against him. "Yes. But I do not mind."

Ino happily settled around him as he held her. She didn't mind either. Lazily basking in the afterglow of some of the best, most intense sex she'd ever had with him felt…well…right. There wasn't any better word for it.

"We could stay just like this, you know. " she poked his sternum with a grin and commanded in her best captain's voice, "Sai, send a messenger bird to Kakashi-sensei and let him know the both of us will be in bed, doing whatever we feel like, for at least three months and not to assign us any missions. Or worry about our well-being." She added thoughtfully.

The vibrations of a low chuckle rumbled through his chest. "Three months? But what about next week?"

Ino nuzzled deeper into his side and let her hand drift around his torso in nonsensical shapes, paying particularly close attention to his abdomen. "What about next week?"

Sai reached over and lifted up her chin. "Shikamaru and Temari's wedding. Did you forget?"

Oh, duh! Ino nearly stopped caressing him to smack herself on the forehead for letting that slip her mind. How on earth could she nearly forget one of her closest childhood friends was getting married in one week's time? While Old Shikamaru wouldn't have cared at all (in fact, he'd probably be downright grateful if she missed it altogether), New Shikamaru-the one with numerous village responsibilities and a wife-would never let her live it down if this got out.

"I didn't forget," she quickly fibbed, with a tap to his nose for emphasis, "I just…still need to find something to wear. I can't show up to every wedding in the same outfit I wore to Naruto and Hinata's now, can I?"

"Why not? It looked nice on you."

That was true. It did look good on her. It also looked good on her bedroom floor later that night.

"Sai" Ino chided gently, "A girl as stylish as me needs something new and exciting for every occasion or else people get tired of her." She watched her fingertip trace around his navel in small circles. "And I suppose I should get another one for Chouji while I'm at it."

"Chouji?"

She grunted. "I mean, they haven't announced it yet but it'll happen soon. Just watch."

Sai must have noticed the grimace on her face and his thumb stroked across as if to wipe it off. "Isn't that a good thing?" he asked.

No Ino thought to herself, but she wasn't about to say that out loud. "I'm happy for Chou, really, but couldn't he have picked someone else?" Ino grumbled instead.

Sai smiled at her disgust. "I like Karui-san. She is very open about what she thinks."

Of course he would. Ino rolled her eyes and puffed out her cheeks in a huff. "Yeah, that's exactly the problem. Can we not talk about her, please?"

Truthfully, it wasn't so much that Karui was rather blunt when it came to her thoughts and opinions; Ino knew that she herself exhibited that trait and it wouldn't be very fair to dislike someone else for it. It was simply a matter of said thoughts and opinions always seeming to directly contradict her own. Had they been more agreeable on certain subjects, or one of them been more willing to keep her sentiments to herself, Ino felt without a doubt they could have been good friends. But in the end, it all came down to how Chouji felt and Ino was gracious enough to put aside her own feelings on the matter to support her dear friend's relationship as best she could.

Sai, thankfully, did not press any further on that topic. Instead, he ran his fingertips up and down her jawline and asked "So what will you wear to your wedding?"

Ino was caught completely off guard. "My…?" She composed herself with a laugh, stilling her hand. "And who, may I ask, am I going to be marrying, exactly?"

His hand twitched away as if her chin had suddenly turned white-hot and too painful to touch.

"You have to ask…I see." Sai murmured, more to himself than her. The muddled lethargy that had been slowly disappearing as they talked seemingly began to resurface.

Then all at once, a smile broke across his face. But it wasn't the same warm smile he always had for her, no, this was the fake, unfeeling mask he used to put on to hide his lack of feeling connections to others. Only now, he was masking something else entirely.

Hurt.

Ino didn't understand what she had said to make him feel this way, but to see him in any kind of pain because of her was absolutely unbearable. She reached up to curve her palm around his cheek as tenderly as she could and asked softly. "Sai? What is it?"

"It's nothing. I had just thought…" his eyelids dropped the tiniest bit before that insincere smile widened further under her thumb. "But I was wrong, wasn't I?"

It was then that the reason for his melancholy demeanor dawned on her: He had assumed that at this hypothetical wedding of hers, she would be marrying him. The thought of Sai even thinking about going through with something like that was almost humorous. That is, it would have been humorous had it not been for the current atmosphere, which now made it downright incredible. She gazed at him in awe. "Sai…you meant our wedding…"

The mask broke. Sai looked at her earnestly and grasped her hand in his. "What we've been doing…Isn't this what a man and a woman who intend to marry each other do?"

The weight of this sank down into the deepest pit of her stomach. Throughout their affair, she had most certainly entertained the notion of someday becoming his wife. Heading her clan together. Bearing his children. Growing old by his side. The possibility only seemed to become increasingly appealing, not to mention probable, as they spent more and more time together whether by themselves or on missions.

She did hold a deep-seated desire to marry him eventually, that much was certain, yet she had never brought it up. So…they never agreed they were going to marry, or even shared their intent, did they? But here he was, eagerly participating in activities that according to him, were things that happened when a couple wished to spend the rest of their lives together.

Then that would mean…

Ino's heart flipped over in her chest. Slowly, she repositioned herself so she was lying half on top of him, looking directly into his eyes. A shaking breath drew in past her lips.

"Sai…do you love me?"

The faintest hint of pink slowly seeped into his pale cheeks. His dark eyes suddenly found a fraying edge of bedsheet near his hand utterly fascinating.

"I…believe so," he answered hesitantly, fingers stretching out to toy with a wisp of thread, "That is, for me, spending time with you is better than spending time with anyone else. Making you happy makes me feel…more alive, somehow." He smiled at her…genuinely, this time. "It is a bit confusing, actually."

At his words, warmth radiated out from her chest all the way to the tips of her toes. As insincere as those words would sound to anyone listening in, she knew him well enough to understand they were his way of confessing his feelings. His feelings for her.

He loves me.

If Sai had anything else to say at that moment, it needed to wait. Ino leapt up (as best she could from a lying position) to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him like she'd never kissed him before.

When she finally pulled back, it left him in a stunned daze. He blinked at her. "What was that for?"

Ino laughed and wove her fingers through his shaggy mop of hair, nuzzling his nose with hers. "Sai, you numbskull, why else would a girl kiss someone who just confessed he's in love with her?"

Sai shrugged. "I can think of lots of reasons."

Ino shook her head with a sigh. Still as slow on the uptake as ever, she thought. It wasn't that she wanted to make him guess her feelings, it was that simply saying "I love you" now seemed so…typical and too mainstream, especially after he had just expressed his feelings in a way that was uniquely Sai. Suddenly, an idea came to her; A small gesture from her that he couldn't possibly misinterpret for anything else.

She kissed his forehead and rose from the bed. "Wait here."

It didn't take long to find a scrap piece of parchment (there was always one sitting somewhere within arms reach, it seemed) and a fountain pen on the small writing desk across the room. Carefully, Ino drew the pen across its surface in short, practiced strokes, then gently blew on the glistening ink until it dried.

Ino walked back to his bedside, grasping the finished product with both hands as she stood over him. "I made you something."

Sai squinted at the tiny piece of paper as his eyesight focused in the dimming light. It took several blinks before he glanced back at her, expression blank. "But you can't draw."

Whether it was a simple statement or a jab at her (lack of) artistic skills, Ino couldn't tell and couldn't care less. That was how good of a mood she was in.

"It's not a drawing. It's…ah…here, just take it." She shoved the parchment into his hands and climbed onto the bed behind him. As he silently took in her creation, she draped her arms around him, perching her chin on his shoulders. "So…what do you think?"

He didn't speak for the longest time, simply sitting and letting his eyes roam over what was written on the paper. But when he soon understood its significance and his entire face brightened, it was as if she was watching a child who had just been given the best birthday present he could hope for. The blush-tinged smile that appeared on his face was so pure, so shy, she couldn't help the tears that came brimming forth.

"Yamanaka…Sai." he finally whispered out loud, tracing the characters again and again with his trembling index finger. With each pass, she could feel his heart beating faster and a swelling aura of wholesome, warm happiness emanating from him. "Yamanaka Sai. I like it."

Ino gently kissed his glowing cheek, letting his happiness soak in with a smile. "Me, too."

And that's it! :D

I really hope it came across that Sai had come to the conclusion they were heading for marriage sometime after they started sleeping together, not that he started having sex with her because he thought it's what was supposed to happen and felt obligated to. I had a little trouble writing out that part and if it did come across that way I apologize, that was not my intention. DX

Please review, visit my Tumblr, have a drink, do whatever make you happy. More writings to come in the future!