Author's notes: Free. I'm free. College is finished (..for now, if I don't have to redo the year anyway..) so I'm definitely going to be finishing my stories before summer ends. So so sorry about the three year delay (lol I'm such a bastard..) and I do hope you enjoy this chapter – next one will be up very, very soon fosho!

Ino woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs cooking. Although she's always trying to stay in shape by controlling her diet, she will occasionally treat herself with some greasy or fatty food – she absolutely loves food. Ino sighed, wishing she could eat without getting fat.

School this week was the same as always – nothing particularly special. The best thing about this week was definitely Mr. Sarutobi joining the school, Ino thought. But Ino is still bugged by one thing that happened on Monday – when she got pulled into Mr. Sarutobi's lap. Had it continued, it would have clearly been the beginning of...a scandal. The first of its kind.

Not one day goes by that Ino doesn't think about what happened. She was a virgin and has never been that close to doing the deed. She hasn't even kissed anyone yet! Why did he do that? Does he like me? What would have happened if Kurenai didn't interrupt? Questions raced through her mind, one after the other, and she had a very difficult time concentrating in class.

But what disturbed her the most was his behaviour in the last few days. They sometimes walk in opposite directions in the corridor but the interaction between them is...non-existent. The first few times Ino was expecting eye contact, at least a smile she thought, but Asuma's expression was stern and unwavered. In class he takes no notice of her and she felt humiliated – used, even. Which made her think...was it all just a dream? Why is he acting like this?

'If only I knew what's going through his mind right now...'

...

Chemistry just finished for Ino. Just as she left the room with the other students, she heard a voice call out 'Ino! Wait up!'

The voice was Kiba's. Ino sighed. Kiba has been trying to talk to her more and more this week. She keeps ending the conversation but he's persistent.

'My life is kinda boring right now,' Ino thought. 'He's annoying at times but he's actually a sweet guy, maybe I should give him a chance...'

She turned and looked at him with a malicious smirk, arms folded.

'You like me right?' She confidently asked. Kiba blushed.

'um, yeah,' he replied.

'Take me on a date then' she boldly said.

Kiba's eyes widened. 'Really? You'd let me take you on one?'

'Yeah,' she chuckled. 'But it better be a good one!'

Kiba grinned.

'Of course! How does 6 pm on Saturday sound?'

'Sounds good,' Ino said.

'Guess I'll see you around then.'

Kiba walked off in the other direction. He was happy Ino wasn't walking the same way as him as he couldn't keep the grin off of his face.

'I guess doing anything to keep busy is better than nothing, I need to keep my mind off of him anyway' Ino contemplated as she walked to her next class.

...

Before Ino knew it, it was already Saturday. Normally she'd hang around with Sakura or Hinata, but Hinata's with Naruto and Sakura is spending more time with Neji. Deep down she's happy for them, but at the same time she longs to be Mr. Sarutobi and she gets jealous very easily.

'Why are my friends suddenly getting to spend time with the guys they like and I'm not!?' She thought. 'it's not fair!'

The date starts at 6 so Ino had a few hours to kill. For some odd reason, she felt compelled to dress nicely. She has no feelings for Kiba, but since it's her first date, she wanted it to go well and she was the one that suggested the date after all. Her mum was delighted to know that she's finally going out on a date and encouraged her to buy a couple of dresses and maybe some shoes and a bag.

After getting dressed, she put a little bit of make-up on and left the house to go to the mall. Despite being fashionable, Ino didn't have anything appropriate to wear to her first date with a guy. Around her girls, she's comfortable wearing leggings, jeans, shirts, and very casual clothing. Surprisingly, she doesn't own any dresses despite having the body to rock every dress she chooses to try on.

A few hours later, carrying two bags of clothes, shoes and other miscellaneous items, she arrived home. With just over an hour left to get ready, she started changing as she took a while to get ready as she still needs to apply make-up. In the end she opted to wear a simple but elegant maroon dress, with matching maroon flat pumps and her new deep purple handbag.

An hour later, she stares upon her reflection in the mirror and smiles. She is genuinely happy how this has all turned out and she feels great about herself.

Then she stops.

'Wait, why am I putting so much effort into this?' She thought to herself, bewildered. 'I don't even like him that way...'

'Well, whatever. I just want to have fun tonight.' She said to her reflection. After using perfume on herself, she said goodbye to her mum and left to meet with Kiba.

...

'Where is he?' Ino looked around their meeting spot. 'I can't find him anywhere...'

Then she turned around and was utterly shocked at what she saw.

Author's notes: I know you all came for some InoxAsuma action but...don't worry, I haven't turned my back on that idea yet, just keep reading xD
Hope you liked it, reviews are greatly appreciated!